


The Thunderer

by Anonymous



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Awesome Frigga (Marvel), F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Intersex Loki (Marvel), Jane Foster is a Good Bro (Marvel), Jotunn Loki (Marvel), M/M, Multi, Odin tries to be better for once, Slow Burn, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:59:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28607124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Thor cuts off Thanos' arm preventing the snap. The call of the gauntlet lures him and he takes it wishing everything would go back to being the way it was. He is thrown back in time and wakes up in his old body a month before his coronation. His father is alive, his mother is alive, his realm is flourishing and more importantly Loki is still untainted from the lies buried in Asgard. Can Thor make the best of this second chance? Or will destiny prove too powerful? Only time will tell..
Relationships: Frigga | Freyja/Odin (Marvel), Loki/Thor (Marvel), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 125
Kudos: 509
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the purpose of this story let us all assume that Thor and co spent months on the Statesman before Thanos attacked them instead of five minutes. Because our babies deserve some love dammit! Also Loki and Thor got together in that time and were in a 'relationship' and were going to be happy but then Thanos screwed it up (curse him) and then IW happened and we start at the very end of it.

Battle raged all around Thor. The vicious beasts kept pouring out despite him and his comrades fighting against them tooth and nail. Thor didn't care. He didn't care how long they fought, he didn't care how many died by his axe all he wanted was the head of the monster that had taken everything from him. His blood boiled as the sight of Loki, his sweet little brother, his brother whom he had just gotten back lying pale and lifeless never to rise again flashed before his eyes. Thor roared and sliced through another outrider. Twice before he had thought his brother lost. Both times Loki came back, but Thor knew he was not coming back this time. The worst thing, the thing Thor cursed himself for even now in the heat of the battle was that his last words to Loki had been borne of anger and frustration. And now Loki was gone. Thor couldn't take it back. That above all else hurt.

There was a shift in the creatures around him. They all looked up as if sensing some change in the air. _'That's him'_ Thor heard Bruce's voice over the comms. Thanos was here. Thor gripped Stormbreaker hard and cut through the beasts surrounding him. He couldn't bring Loki back and he certainly could not take his words back but Thor was an Avenger and he was going to avenge his brother's death if it was the last thing he did. With that thought Thor let the thunder flow freely through his veins and took flight.

Wanda struggled to hold back Thanos as Vision implored her to destroy the stone that gave him life. She had tears in her eyes. She couldn't....she didn't want to....but she knew she must. Wanda let her power flow like she had never before, killing the man...the being she loved most in this world. Her heart broke as the Mind Stone shattered into a million tiny pieces. Wanda had done it. She had kept the monster from what he wanted. She fell to her knees, her head bowed, crying. A huge hand pat her head. With her power so close to the surface she felt the emotions of the monster. Anger, pity and sadness....Sadness? What this monster have to mourn?

"I understand my child." Thanos said, looking at Wanda almost sympathetically. "Better than anyone..."

Wanda felt anger bubble inside her. "You could never...."

Thanos looked at her as if she was a naive child. "Today I lost more than you can know. But now is no time to mourn." Thanos said a strange note in his voice. He walked away from Wanda. "Now is no time at all."

Wanda realized too late what his intentions were. Thanos activated the time stone and brought Vision back. "No!!" Wanda yelled and tried to stop him. Thanos simply batted her away like a fly. He plucked the mind stone from Vision's head like people pick flowers from the ground and threw Vision's body away. He inserted the mind stone in the gauntlet as Wanda watched in horror. He was about to snap when lightning hit him square in the chest.

Thanos was thrown back a few meters before he managed to correct himself. Thor threw stormbreaker at him. As reflex Thanos used the power of the gauntlet to deflect it. But this was a King's weapon, equal in power to the gauntlet. It's path remained unchanged. Thanos screamed in pain as his arm was cut clean from his body. Thor landed in front of him, eyes completely white, looking every bit the God he was.

Thanos tried to inch towards the gauntlet on his now detached hand but Thor gripped his head and twisted a dagger in the place where his arm had been and from where blood was now flowing freely. Thanos grit his teeth to keep from screaming. Thor smiled very much like Loki. "Burns doesn't it? The blade's coated in Willow's wail. A lovely gift from my little brother. A brother you took away from me. I told you, you'd pay for that."

Thor was so overcome with rage his hands shook. He pulled the dagger from the stump of Thanos' arm and with a cry of rage thrust it through Thanos' eye into his brain till it was buried to the hilt, the poison on the blade making Thanos' blood sizzle. Thanos' body fell to the ground lifeless. But Thor was not taking any chances. He hefted Stormbreaker and chopped Thanos' head off, then hacked his body into pieces till blood soaked the ground. Steve came into his line of sight looking a little wary. The other avengers all started gathering around looking at Thor like he was a ticking bomb.

But Thor's attention was captured by the gauntlet. The stones were calling to him, he could feel them. He could hear them whisper in his mind.

_'Use us.'_

_'Tell us what you want Godling.'_

_'You have freed us from the monster, ask what you desire in return.'_

_'Tell us.'_

_'Tell us'_

Quicker than any of the Avengers could anticipate, Thor grabbed the gauntlet off the ground and put it on. ' _I want to go back. Back before this bloodshed. Back to the time when all was well.'_ Thor whispered to the stones and willed it with all his heart. He heard Steve screaming and a golden portal forming but it was too late. The stones glowed and their power consumed Thor. ' _So be it'_ They whispered and Thor, King of a dead realm, the last child of Odin, son of Bor was no more....

For a long time there was only darkness. Then images flashed before Thor's eyes. Loki a weak little baby, so fragile, smiling a toothless smile that warmed Thor's heart. Thor in a garden with his mother and Loki, planting roses. Loki waking him in the middle of the night because he was too scared to sleep alone in the dark. Loki laughing at Thor, all bright and happy as Thor falls for his illusion. Loki being excited as he showed Thor how he could shift forms. Loki reading to Thor, running his hands through Thor's hair till he fell asleep. Loki stealing cake from Thor's plate even when there was plenty of it on the table. Loki practically glowing as he manages to hunt his first deer. Loki looking at Thor with stars in his eyes as Thor regales the tale of him rescuing an old lady from a thief.

Then the memories shifted Thor saw himself befriend the Warriors Three and Sif. Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral were the best of friends to Thor but they had little patience for Loki in front of him and none at all behind his back. Sif was better in that she did not pretend to like Loki either way. It didn't matter, because together they drove Loki away. Slowly Thor saw the formation of the rift that would become a chasm and ultimately lead to Loki slipping from his hands. Thor wanted to yell at his younger self. Tell the idiot to turn back! To think just once what his words were doing, where his actions would lead but it was no use. These were only memories after all. They were things that had been done already. There was no changing them.

Thor closed his eyes again. One chance just one. To change. To do better that was all Thor wanted. He swore he would not waste it. Darkness surrounded Thor but this time it was different. It was fueled by the power of elements older than the universe itself. Thor felt like he was being torn in two, like his skin was burning in fire and freezing in ice at the same time. But he held on, he wanted it. He wanted his one chance. Then it was as if Thor was submerged under water. On instinct he struggled to break free. To rise out of his watery tomb.

And rise Thor did only it was not a pool or a lake or the sea, Thor found himself on the floor, his bed sheets still half on the bed, the pillows in disarray. Thor blinked and looked around. He...he was on the floor....of his room....that looked like it was in Asgard. That did not sound right. Then the memory came back. Of the monster, the gauntlet and the stones....the stones asking his desire. Thor sprung to his feet and frantically looked around. He almost sobbed when he saw Mjolnir, whole, unbroken in the corner. Then his caught his reflection in the mirror. Thor stared at the face of a man...no boy he hadn't been for a long time. His hair was long though shorter than he used to keep it before Sakaar. He had both his eyes and he was thinner than he remembered being. He closed his eyes and looked inward. Sparks left the tips of his fingers. It would seem some things were not lost after all.

His attention wavered again when he saw a familiar black green pen. Loki had forgotten it in Thor's room when he'd come to convince Thor to work on the trade deals with him. Thor hadn't bothered to return it. Stupid. He was so stupid. Thor clutched the pen like it was a gem. Loki....Loki would be alive. He would be breathing and healthy. Thor swallowed, he had to control himself. If he told anyone his tale he was sure they'd think him mad or worse under some spell. He had to tread carefully. This was his one chance.

Thor bit his lip. But surely he could ask Loki to have breakfast with him? That was something brothers did wasn't it? It wouldn't be odd would it? Thor didn't even know what time he was in. When was his coronation? He had to stop Loki from interrupting it. The only way Loki deserved to find out about his true heritage was calmly surrounded by his family. It looked like he was as old as he'd been when Odin was about to crown him King. But for Thor that had been a lifetime ago. Well he was not going to find anything out by sitting in his room. Thor washed his face and changed into his armor and set his bed right out of habit. He had no servants on the Statesman, he'd learned to do all things on his own. Thor fastened his cape and after staring at the door for five minutes finally ventured out.

He had to clench his fists to keep himself from breaking down at the sight of his home intact and whole instead of being reduced to pieces of rocks floating in space. Thor knew that beneath the murals of his family were the pictures of Asgard's bloody past but he chose to ignore them for now. He would revisit that thought after he had hugged his brother and his mother. Thor fidgeted in front of Loki's door for long enough that the guards looked at him in concern. He shook his head and knocked at the door.

"Come in!" Loki's voice came from inside and Thor had to work to calm his breathing. He pushed open the door and there he was. Loki in all his glory sitting by the fireplace, reading a book that was probably about sedir. His hair was short, just barely past his chin and his cheeks still had the last vestiges of baby fat. He was so so young, it felt like Thor was seeing him for the first time.

Loki looked up when the person who had come in did not speak for a full minute. It was Thor, standing in the middle of his room, looking at Loki like he was seeing a ghost. "Thor? Are you alright?" Loki frowned. What was Thor even doing in his room? Usually at this time he would be sparring with his stupid friends.

Thor blinked at Loki for a moment before coming back to himself. "Yes! Yes! I'm fine. I...uh....I came to...return your pen! Yeah...I came to return your pen. You forgot it in my room the other day..."

Thor held out Loki's pen to him. Loki looked at him skeptically before sighing and closing his book. He got up and reached out to take his pen, only to find Thor wouldn't let go of it and instead stepped close enough that Loki could feel him breathe.

"Um....Thor?" Loki looked at Thor confused by his odd behavior. Thor stroked his cheek almost unconsicously. Loki ripped his pen from Thor's hand making him jerk back.

"Sorry..." Thor looked sheepish and...Loki squinted was....blushing? Loki shook his head. Whatever Thor's problem was he could take it elsewhere.

"Well thank you for bothering to return something for once. If that is all..." Loki was cut off because Thor stepped into his personal space yet again and hugged him tightly.

Loki was going to stab the oaf to make him let go but then he paused. Thor was shivering....no shaking. Like a leaf in the wind. Loki blinked at the wall over Thor's shoulders and hesitantly brought his arms up to hug Thor in return. Thor seemed to melt against Loki. He didn't know what to do. It was sad Loki realized that it had been so long since he had hugged his brother. After a minute of attempting to squeeze the life out of Loki, Thor suddenly let him go, looking extremely embarrassed.

"Sorry... sorry. I just....I had a horrible dream..." Thor trailed off not saying anything else.

Loki bit his lip. "What did you dream of?"

Thor seemed to age ten years all of a sudden. "Mother was dead. Father was dead. Our home was gone and you....I watched you die in front of my eyes and I couldn't do anything. Not one single thing..."

Loki looked down at his feet. Thor's voice wavered. Thor's voice never wavered. He wasn't sure what to say. "Well....uh...it was only a dream...or nightmare more accurately....uh... we're fine. Father's attending meetings, mother's in the garden, I'm still here and I'm sure your stupid friends are sparring as they always do in the mornings. We're all here and nothing is going to happen to us."

Thor's demeanor shifted again and Loki saw an edge of something dark in his eyes. "You're right. You're all here and no one will take you away from me. I will tear them to pieces if they try."

Loki was well aware that Thor was capable of being intimidating, he had just never been affected by it. But something told Loki, Thor meant the part about tearing to pieces literally. He swallowed.

"Well lovely. If that's all...?" Loki was cut off as there was a knock on the door. "Come in" he called out

It was Sif. She stomped in. "What the fuck have you done to Thor now yo- Oh." She did a double take when she saw Thor. "Uh... Thor? I was looking for you. You didn't show up to the training ring this morning."

Thor looked between Loki and Sif and shrugged. "I didn't feel like it. I haven't even had breakfast yet. I came to return Loki his pen and ask him if he'd like to join me and mother for some breakfast. You...and the others can join too if you want...."

Sif looked at Thor skeptically. "Why were you up so late? You usually wake up at dawn."

Thor did not miss the suspicious glance she threw Loki's way. Had Sif always been so rude to Loki? He shrugged again. "I slept late and therefore woke up late. It happens. Is that a no to the breakfast?"

"I actually already ate. Will you join us after?" Sif asked.

Thor thought about it. He would love to chat with his friends again but he wanted to talk to his father first and he also had duties, he was sure of it. In the past he might have ignored them, but Thor was not that man anymore. He understood the importance of the responsibility on his shoulders.

"I.... can't. I have to speak with father and I have some duties to go over. Maybe in the evening? We can have a pint at the Inn." Thor suggested.

Sif blinked in surprise. Had Thor never refused her before? Probably not...he realized. At least not now. It had taken meeting Jane Foster and the loss of his brother for Thor to mature. So it probably was a surprise that this Thor refused his friends and picked duty over them. Loki on the other hand was outright gaping at Thor. He winced internally. So much for treading lightly.

"Uh...sure. We can do that...." Sif said eventually after a long awkward pause.

Thor smiled as best as he could. "Great. Goodbye then."

The dismissal definitely shocked Sif but she left anyways. Thor was not going to hear the end of it tonight. Loki was still gaping. Thor shuffled on his feet. "Have you already eaten as well or...?"

Loki seemed to come back to himself. "I did actually. But...we can both go see mother now. It's time for brunch. I wouldn't say no to tea and I'm sure you can find something to eat at her table."

Thor smiled brightly. "Perfect. Let's go. I'm starving."

That made Loki roll his eyes. "You are always starving. Sometimes I wonder if there is pocket dimension in your stomach or something."

Thor actually laughed at that. "Ha! You're mistaken there dear brother. That would be Volstagg."

Loki chuckled. "Fair enough. Come along then before you start your incessant whining."

Thor put an arm around Loki's shoulder and led him to the gardens. He seemed to have gotten over his nightmare and looked happy so Loki didn't protest. Their mother was setting a tea pot on a table in the middle of the garden. She smiled when she saw Thor and Loki. Thor let go of Loki and hugged their mother tightly just as he had hugged Loki.

"Oh Thor! I can't breathe darling." Frigga exclaimed.

Thor let go of her immediately. "Sorry! Sorry. I'm just....it is a beautiful morning...Good Morn mother."

"Good morning dear and you too Loki. What brings my two sons to me today?" Frigga asked smiling.

"I woke up late and haven't eaten. Loki mentioned it was brunch time already. Do you....do you mind if we join you?" Thor asked.

Frigga waved a hand dismissively. "Of course not Thor. Come sit. Have some sandwiches. They're the jam ones you like."

Thor looked at the bread as if seeing it for the first time. Loki wondered just how bad his nightmare had been. Thor seemed quite shaken by it. Frigga poured them both some tea and Loki picked a pastry for himself. Thor chose some biscuits along with the sandwiches, putting the pistachio ones on Loki's plate almost unconsciously. Loki loved those and Thor in the past always fought for them. Yet today he just handed them to Loki. He was definitely shaken.

Loki shrugged. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? Frigga put her cup down and sighed. "I am thinking of taking a break with your father and visiting Vanaheim after the coronation. It's been so long since I saw Freyr."

Loki stuffed a pistachio biscuit in his mouth. "Can I come with you? I have a bet with Aunt Freya that Asgard wouldn't stand a week with Thor as King"

"Loki! Your brother is not so bad at ruling. Don't be rude." Frigga chastised.

Loki shrugged. "Oaf can't even find his cape without the servants and I am pretty sure I saw Fandral joke that all trade treaties are the same and all Thor needs to do is sign on them. Because of course reading the terms is boring."

Loki often made such remarks in the past and Thor back then had thought he was mocking him but now he noticed the slight alarm in his mother's eyes and realized Loki was trying to get her to see that Thor did not take his responsibilities seriously. Well Loki was not wrong there.....it was just that Thor was not the Thor he had been last night but Loki had no way of knowing that.

"Well then you can stay and help your brother understand the treaties he is signing." Frigga replied, looking at Loki sternly.

Thor frowned. Loki shouldn't have to babysit Thor and do all his work for him. "Or I can just send over a letter when I don't understand something. Loki can go with you mother. As a matter of fact, I might come along too. Visiting the realms to see that they are well does fall under one of my duties."

Loki blinked in surprise and Frigga looked at Thor like she had hoped he would say something like this. "Alright. That's sorted then" she said going back to her tea.

Loki frowned at the table and then stole a biscuit from Thor's plate. Thor had become so used to Loki stealing his food on the statesman that all he did was smile fondly and shovel another sandwich in his mouth. Loki frowned harder and then did not say anything for the rest of brunch. Afterwards Thor hugged his mother tightly one more time and ruffled Loki's hair, almost earning a dagger in his side. He laughed controlling himself from pinching Loki's cheeks. He was so adorable when he pouted like that. Thor casually swung Mjolnir and went in search of his father.

He paused near the throne room, wondering how everyone would react if he broke the mural on the wall, revealing what was underneath. Then he saw his father on the throne, looking picture perfect as always. Thor was... conflicted. Months in the Statesman with the remains of his realm were spent wondering how things would have been if only Odin had been honest.

Loki had broken down one day and told Thor how he found out he was Jotun and all Thor had wanted was to ask his father, why. Why did he hide Loki's true heritage from him? Why did he never tell them about Hela? Why did leave them to stumble in the dark instead of being honest from the very beginning? Why? So many whys and no one to answer them. Yet as Thor stood here at the entrance to the throne room not much had changed. He couldn't ask Odin all these questions. Not now. Maybe not ever. He didn't know how to feel about his father. A part of him was happy but a part of him was angry. So so angry.

Odin spotted Thor. "Ah Thor. Why are you standing there? Come in my son."

Thor took a deep breath and went up to Odin and just stood there. Odin looked at him in concern. "You're being awfully silent. Tell me what brings you here Thor?"

Thor said the first thing that came to his mind. "I want to make Loki my chief advisor."

Thor winced internally again. Loki in the future did end up being Thor's chief advisor but that was a time where the only council member left was Heimdall. Not that Thor did not want Loki to be his advisor. In fact that had always been what he intended to do. He had lived on Asgard without Loki and those were the loneliest days of his life. Thor had come to realize that Loki was the only one who truly understood him and his absence was a void no one else could fill. But that had been too tactless. Now Odin was just going to think Loki put the thought in his mind.

Sure enough Odin frowned at Thor, then looked almost disappointed. "I see you have been spending time with your brother. What makes you think Loki is fit for the position?"

The anger was definitely winning over the joy. Thor controlled his features. "What makes you think I am fit to be King?" He asked instead.

Odin pursed his lips. "You are my son...."

Thor cut him off not missing the implication that Odin thought he didn't know of. Thor stood straighter and squared his shoulders. " And Loki is my brother. Is he not?"

Odin hesitated. It was subtle and Thor would have missed it had he not known to look for it. But it was there. Odin sighed. "Of course he is. The council might ask you the same thing and they won't accept familial relation as an answer."

Thor shrugged. "It is a sidenote not the reason. Loki can be cunning but he's not going to betray me. Might set a few people on fire here and there or turn them into frogs but what's the God of Mischief without a little chaos? He knows the realms around us far more than we do and even you cannot deny it. Do you really want that knowledge turned against Asgard? Loki is a better advisor than all of those old fools any day."

Odin relented. "Well don't let them hear you call them that. I suppose it is better to direct Loki's attention to other things. Would you be accompanying me to the meetings today then?"

Thor nodded. "Yes. I would like that. I should warn you though mother intends to drag you to Vanaheim once I am on the throne. Loki wants to tag along. Apparently he has a bet with Aunt Freya. I don't think you'll get out of it this time father."

Odin huffed. "And then you wonder why people are against Loki being on the council. What is it this time? You are not going to show up in a dress again are you? Lord Bren fainted last time. He has a weak heart Thor. He can only take so much."

Thor chuckled. "Oh it's nothing like that. He's just betting how long it will take me to quit and hand the crown back to you. Loki says a week. If Lady Yana is going to bring up the need for more dress shops again I say it will take only a day."

Odin laughed. "Oh even I will quit if that is brought up again. We can all just retire to the edge of the forest and leave Heimdall in charge. He seems to be the only one capable of staring the council down. Well come on then the old fools do not really have a lot of patience."

Thor felt better when he saw his father accept his proposition. Now all he had to do was convince Loki he was serious about this. He still wanted to talk about Loki being Jotun and he had to get Odin to think about Hela. But for today, for now this was enough. Thor spent the better part of the day in meetings. They were tedious and at times he felt like scratching his brains out but he had vowed he would do better so he stuck with his father till the end. It was evening by the time they were done. Odin seemed actually happy that Thor was taking things seriously.

Thor shook his head. If both his parents were worried he was not quite ready why were they hel bent on going through with the coronation? Thank the Norns Loki had some sense and had stopped it, even if his methods were extreme at least he did _something_. Thor looked out the balcony of his room. He could hear the hustle and bustle of the city and it warmed his heart. His people were alive and happy. They had a home and food and were flourishing. What more could a King want than for his people to prosper?

Thor took a bath and put on more comfortable clothes ditching the armor and headed to the inn. It was good to see his friends alive and well. Thor had missed their antics. Though he found he wasn't quite as fond of drinking anymore. He would have preferred a quiet night in with a book over the raucous of the inn. Thor snorted. Now he just sounded old. Later in the night Thor fluffed his pillows and laid his head down on them and closed his eyes...and found that he couldn't sleep. He knew why. Thor had gotten used to sleeping with Loki beside him and now sleep evaded him. Maybe he could see if Loki was still up and chat with him for bit? It might soothe Thor enough to come back and sleep. Thor hadn't drunk much but just enough that it sounded like a great idea to him.

He made his way to Loki's room and knocked on the door. Loki opened after a few minutes looking grumpy. Thor giggled. Cute. He realized he'd said it out loud when Loki blushed. "You're drunk Thor. Go to sleep."

Thor meant to say he wanted to talk for a while but what came out was completely different. "Can I sleep with you?"

Loki looked at him baffled. "Excuse me?!"

Thor blinked. Oh. That sounded wrong. "I mean can I sleep beside you? Like when we were kids remember?"

Loki still looked baffled. "Why?" He asked.

Because Thor needed to feel Loki's heartbeat under his ears to assure himself Loki was alive. Because Thor was afraid he was going to wake up and find himself back in the future. Because the thought of waking up alone was too much. He couldn't say that though. So he managed to choke out only one word. "Nightmares...."

Loki looked at him in worry for a moment before sagging and moving aside to let Thor in. "Alright. Just for tonight. You can take the left side. But if you hog the covers I'll kick you out."

Thor nodded. "As long as you keep your cold feet to yourself."

Loki pouted, but he got under the covers and promptly pushed his cold feet between Thor's. It was so like Loki. Thor simply wrapped an arm around Loki's waist and pulled him closer. "Brat" It was meant to be chastising but came out too fond.

Loki's brow furrowed and Thor could hear him think. He placed a soft kiss on Loki's forehead. "Go to sleep Loki, the plots can wait for tomorrow." Thor said like he used to when they were children.

It worked. Loki relaxed and was soon fast asleep. Thor stared at him for a long time. Letting the rise and fall of Loki's chest comfort him. He never thought watching someone breathe could be a source of joy. Thor only prayed to the Norns to not take this paradise from him again.

TBC.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Thor is affected by the death of his parents but Loki's death for him is much more recent and fresh in his mind so he is naturally drawn to Loki and defensive about him more than he would be normally. Please do comment and let me know if you like the story or any suggestions you have about the writing etc... 😊


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG! Thank you so much everyone for all the kudos and comments ♥️
> 
> I am overwhelmed and also really happy you all liked this idea so much.

Morning found Thor with Loki in his arms. He sighed happily, still half asleep. He loved mornings like this. Despite having nothing but the vast expanse of space they had managed to figure out a sort of time table so they had 'day' and 'night' Thor snuggled closer kissing the back of Loki's neck. Loki grumbled in sleep. Thor smiled fondly. Loki was not a morning person so to speak. On most days he'd doze until Thor was done with his morning routine and Loki had no choice but to get up. Thor didn't mind it one bit. Thor sighed and gently extracted himself from around Loki, then he noticed the sheets....and the bed ......and the room.

Oh. Right. He was not on the Statesman because the Statesman was probably still in Sakaar at the moment. Thor turned his head so fast, he almost sprained his neck. Loki hadn't felt Thor kiss him had he? Thor waited with bated breath for a minute but Loki only mumbled and snuggled deeper in the covers. Thor sighed in relief. It was hard, pun not intended to remember that this Loki didn't see Thor as anything more than his brother. Still Thor would rather Loki be alive and think of him as a brother than live in a world where Loki was dead.

Thor stroked Loki's hair gently and got out of bed, making sure Loki was all wrapped up in the sheets. From experience Thor knew he would sleep at least an hour more. Thor decided to go back to his room and bathe and then come back with breakfast. He was efficient about it, hot water being a privileged luxury on the Statesman. Thor looked at his reflection trying to find the man he was now in the face of the boy in the mirror. He felt like a stranger in his own body. Thor went to his balcony and stared at the vast gardens of the palace. So many things he had taken for granted. So many things his people had taken for granted. Hela was still trapped somewhere in a prison of his father's making. Thor wondered if he could maybe get his sister to see reason this time around. Together they could be a formidable team.

But that was too far away. The more pressing matter was of Loki being Jotun. The secret chafed at Thor. He could not claim to love Loki and keep something like this from him. But the question was how to get Odin to speak about it. He couldn't. Thor recognized that his father was the kind of man who'd build a dam after the flood had already come as Tony would say. It was up to Thor to break the news to Loki and he had to make it look like it was news to him too which was true in a way. Thor hadn't known Loki was Jotun in the time he came from. Going to Jotunheim was too risky and could lead to a lot of mess. He could take Loki to the vault but then he'd need a good excuse for it. The only other option was the training ring.

On the Statesman Loki and Brunnhilde often sparred and Thor had discovered that when pushed hard enough Loki's Jotun form would take over, especially if the opponent kept pushing the limits of his sedir. Thor who now had better control of his thunder and more knowledge of how Loki's powers worked could in theory do that. It was too public though. Loki would run, he would run and Thor would not be able to find him. Thor shook his head. Maybe he should watch for an opportunity and try and get his mother to think about being honest with Loki. Between Odin and her, she was a better candidate for such conversation anyways. Then the lightbulb went off in Thor's head.

Of course! There were only a few weeks left to his coronation which meant Loki would soon be searching out a path to Jotunheim and outright creating one in the vault. That was it! What day was it today? Loki might scout out Jotunheim between today and tomorrow. All Thor had to do was be in the right place at the right time and he could use it to his advantage. He would need to keep a close eye on Loki. And he could start on that by having breakfast with him.

Thor ordered the servants to bring food to Loki's room and headed there. Loki had apparently woken up and bathed and was now currently looking at two tunics and trying to decide which one to wear. His back muscles glistening as water dripped from his hair. Thor swallowed, maybe he should've knocked before entering.

Loki turned surprised to see Thor in the doorway. "Thor? I thought maybe you might have gone for training."

Thor shook his head. "I thought we could have breakfast together....."

Loki nodded, selecting a tunic and putting it on. "Sure. Have the servants set the food by the fireplace."

Thor nodded. The servants brought in food and set it as he instructed. Loki and Thor ate and chatted like they hadn't in a long time at least for Loki. Thor found himself policing his words and struggling to remind himself that the Loki in front of him was not quite the same as he remembered. It was punishment of its own kind to keep his hands to himself, still Thor managed it somehow.

When all the food was gone, Loki stood up. "Well I have to go see to some things now. I think we might have some traders coming in from Vanaheim today. Mother wanted me to help her make arrangements."

Thor nodded also standing up. "I believe I also have a council meeting I need to be present at. I'll see you for lunch." Thor said more out of habit than anything else.

Loki blinked at him. "Is this something we're doing now? Having all our meals together? Are you sure you'd rather not have it with your friends?"

Thor winced internally again. It was really hard to not just say the first thing that came to his mind around Loki especially when they were in a setting like this. Now Thor sounded too odd to Loki.

He forged ahead anyways. "Uh.....I thought maybe we could all have lunch together. You always lock yourself away for meals.....I thought maybe you might like more company..."

Loki shrugged. "I keep odd hours and don't really eat when everyone else does. I wouldn't suggest waiting on me. I might be busy with making arrangements."

Thor nodded absently. "Alright. Fine. I'll keep it in mind. I will see you later then."

Unable to resist it, Thor hugged Loki sideways and placed a soft kiss on his temple before leaving. Loki tilted his head and looked at the door for a long moment after Thor was gone. The servants came and cleared the empty dishes but Loki did not leave like he had said he needed to.

Instead Loki went to his collection of books and pulled out a journal he had hidden among them. It contained a detailed map of all the secret paths Loki had managed to find leading out of Asgard to various realms. Loki bit his lip and hesitated. Yesterday and today morning Thor had behaved like the brother Loki had thought lost to him. Loki had half a mind to ditch his plans but no. A few days of being responsible did not suddenly mean Thor was ready to be King.

Loki had to disrupt the coronation. Just because Thor was suddenly being nice to him did not eliminate the possibility that he would lead Asgard to war the minute he was King. Besides this was a simple scouting mission so to speak. Loki just wanted to ensure he had been successful in creating a certain secret path. The more elaborate part of his plan was yet to be executed.

Loki tucked the journal away and headed out of his room through the balcony in the form of a cat. He sent a shadow of himself out the main door of his room to the library so the servants could testify that's where he'd gone. With a thought Loki the cat shielded himself from all sight even Heimdall.

From behind a pillar Thor watched a Loki who he knew was just an illusion leave Loki's room. He'd almost bought the excuse of traders from Vanaheim visiting but then he recalled by this time in the previous timeline his father had sealed the borders to traders. A precaution to ensure no person of ill intention was in Asgard when the coronation took place. So either Loki was going to Jotunheim now or checking on the secret path he'd created in the vault.

Thor could bet Mjolnir it was the one in the vault. Perfect. Thor made it look like he was trying to hide but still let people see him head towards the vault. He knew one of the guards would report it to Odin. No one had permission to enter the vault without the All-father accompanying them.

Guards would not be placed at the entrance of the vault till the day of coronation so Thor knew Loki would be free to work. No doubt he was currently invisible even to the naked eye. It didn't matter Thor just needed Loki to see him go into the vault. Sure enough when Thor passed Loki he felt a sudden shift in the air. Thor ignored it and went to the pedestal that held the Casket of Ancient Winters. Loki in the time he came from had told Thor that the Casket always called out to him. It was just that Loki never spent long enough time around it to be lured by the call. So all Thor had to do was stare at the Casket long enough that Loki followed his lead. The rest would fall in place, hopefully.

Thor stared at the Casket for a full five minutes, keeping enough distance that the Destroyer did not budge from its place. He could feel Loki moving around him drawing closer to the Casket. Then Thor simply turned to leave, only to find Odin at the entrance of the vault.

"Father? I was just...." Thor trailed off as Odin glared at him.

Odin came down the steps. "What are you doing here Thor? You know you do not have permission to be in the vault. You could have set the Destroyer off and hurt yourself."

Thor tried to look chastised. "I just thought to look at all the weapons we have here again. I wonder if perhaps we can use some of them."

Odin sighed. "The weapons in the vault, save Mjolnir are too destructive. That is why they are here sealed away. We are not at war. We have no need of them."

Thor nodded. "Right. I was just curious. What can the Casket even do besides freezing people to death?"

Odin's eye twitched. "It is a siren call to all Jotun. Any Jotun would be drawn to it and in their hands it is devastating weapon that can wipe out entire civilazations. It is not to be taken lightly. Enough about it. You were supposed to be helping Lord Bren renew the terms of Alfheim's treaty or have you changed your mind about it?"

Thor might have replied but the Destroyer moved then sensing Loki getting closer to the Casket. The movement drew Odin's attention who cast a spell to reveal hidden things. The spell hit Loki square in the chest and momentarily his skin turned blue. It was clearly visible to Thor who put on a shocked expression. To steady himself Loki caught the pedestal and his hand touched the Casket as expected Loki's Jotun form stayed for longer this time and Loki looked at his own hand shocked.

"Loki!" Thor yelled. He turned to Odin. "What did you do?!!"

Thor was beside Loki in a flash. He took Loki's hand in his and together they watched as Loki's skin faded back to its usual pale palour. Odin looked extremely confused before he glared at Loki. "What are you doing here?!!"

Thor grit his teeth. This is what Odin was choosing to focus on? No. Thor was not going to let him brush this under the rug. "Have you lost it? Loki is clearly hurt!! GUARDS!! GUARDS!!!"

The guards came rushing in looking confused, having expected a threat but not seeing any. "Call Lady Eir! Loki is hurt!" Thor ordered.

Odin held up a hand though. "There is no need to call Lady Eir. There is nothing wrong with Loki." Odin dismissed the guards.

"But....his skin....it...." Thor protested.

Odin banged Gungnir on the floor. "Let me speak!" He looked at Loki. "What were you doing here Loki?"

Loki was clearly too shaken to understand what Odin was asking. He just blinked at Odin looking from Odin to Thor to the Casket to his hands, looking on the verge of a breakdown. Thor felt anger bubble in his chest. "Can't you see he's shaken? Why aren't we calling Lady Eir?!! What is happening?!!!"

"Thor! Odin! What are you doing? Why are you yelling? The guards told me Loki is hurt but you refuse to call Eir!" Frigga asked rushing in, looking franctic.

She looked at Loki who was having trouble breathing, then at Thor who made no effort to hide the anger he felt and at Odin who's expression was like stone. Frigga chose to reach out to Loki only for Loki to shake his head and take a step back. He was looking at his hands again. Loki was smart Thor knew he had put two and two together. Sure enough Loki closed his eyes and after a few moments his skin turned blue, reverting to its natural form.

Loki looked horrified. He was crying now. He looked at Frigga. "What am I?"

Frigga tried to reach out to him again but Loki took another step back. "You are our son." Frigga replied.

Loki shook his head. "DON'T LIE TO ME!! WHAT AM I?"

"You are Jotun." It was Odin who answered this time.

The words seemed to break something in Loki. Thor glared at Odin. "Explain." was all he said.

Odin looked taken aback. "What did you say to me?"

Thor squared his shoulders. "I said explain. You clearly kept this...whatever this is from us all these years . So.... **explain** "

Seeing Thor support him, seemed to strengthen Loki and stood straighter as well. "Tell me."

Odin hesistated. Before Loki could explode though Frigga spoke up. "Odin found you abandoned in the temple of Jotunheim. It was after he had retrieved the Casket. You....the marks you have in your Jotun form.....we believe you are Laufey's child. It is...it is common practice in Jotunheim to abandon children who are deemed 'weak' and 'small'. You were small though your sedir was powerful but Laufey seemed to not care for it and left you to die. Odin adopted you. He brought you here to raise you as our son and you are our son Loki, maybe not by blood but by bond. We love you as our own. You must believe us."

Loki shook his head. "Then why did you lie?!! Why didn't you tell me the truth from the start?!! Were you ever going to tell me?!! Because it doesn't look like it!! What am I to make of this?!!"

"We did not want you to feel different. We wanted you to..." Frigga began only to be cut off when Thor snorted. She looked at Thor surprised.

Thor did not look one bit repentant. "Oh I'm sorry. It's just.....you did not want Loki to feel different? Really? That's what you're going with? You do realize that by saying that you're basically saying that there is something about Loki that makes him different to begin with. Well how about all those times I swore to wipe out the Jotun from the face of the Nine Realms? You never corrected me. Not once. My brother was Jotun and there I was swearing to wipe out his race, his people and you just stood there and did nothing....that's all you ever do you know....nothing. It's just as bad as doing the wrong thing."

Thor turned away from his parents. He loved them both dearly but by the Norns they needed to accept their mistakes instead of making excuses. Thor reached out to Loki a bit afraid that Loki might pull away from him too but Loki didn't. Instead he looked at Thor as if seeing him for the first time. Thor wrapped an arm around Loki's shoulders.

"Come brother. Take us away from here." Thor whispered.

Odin stepped forward then. "Wait! Thor! Loki! We are not done here!"

Thor glared at Odin, letting his power come to the surface, his eyes whiting out, it was enough to stop Odin in his tracks. He looked surprised and Thor did not miss the way he tightened his grip on Gungnir. Odin was going to cast another spell Thor knew it. But he never got the chance because Loki teleported them out of the vault then. Their surroundings melted and solidified to form the forest at the edge of the city. Thor could see the palace in the distance. Loki pulled away from him and started walking away.

Thor followed him alarmed. "Wait! Loki where are you going?"

Loki sighed. "Well clearly I don't belong here if the past half hour is anything to go by so I might as well leave. You....thank you for defending me......but you should probably go back and make it up to moth-them..."

Thor shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous Loki. I'm not apologizing for my words. They might be our parents but that does not mean they can do whatever they feel like. They were wrong to keep your true heritage from you. I have no intention of being the one to extend the olive branch."

Loki looked conflicted. "You cannot run away with a Jotun Thor. You are the crown prince. You're supposed to be King in a matter of weeks. You can't just leave!"

"I'm not running away with a Jotun. I'm standing in support of my brother. Fuck the crown. I'm not even sure I want it now. Who knows what other skeletons Odin has hidden away?" Thor argued. Oh if only Loki knew the literal skeletons Odin had in his closet.

Loki looked at Thor for a long time. "You're serious....." He realized. "You are actually considering giving up your claim..."

Thor stepped closer to Loki and stroked his cheek. "I was going to name you my chief advisor. I know fat-Odin always pit us against each other. Saying only one of us could rule and what not. But he's wrong. We're stronger together Loki. If I have to sit on the throne without you then....then I am cursed. I don't want to live like that Loki. I cannot imagine my life without you. You are the only one who understands me, who truly understands me. You are my equal. To think of Asgard without you is a nightmare, to think of ruling without you is presposterous. I don't want a throne if I have to step on your back to sit on it."

Loki had tears in his eyes again. "Not your equal....never was....." he mumbled, letting the Jotun form take over again.

Thor shook his head. He put a hand under Loki's chin and turned his face up. "You might not be Odin's son and you might not be Frigga's son but you will always, always be my brother and my equal. No one. **No one** can take your place Loki. This I promise."

Loki hugged Thor then, sobbing in his chest. Thor held Loki tightly, letting him cry, letting him shed the burden on his heart. They stood there for a long long time, eventually Loki calmed down enough to pull away. His eyes were puffy and his nose was red from all the crying but he seemed to be handling it better than Thor had expected.

Loki looked over Thor's shoulder at the palace. "I don't want to go back...not.....not yet..." He admitted.

Thor nodded. "We can just stay here for now, maybe take a hike in the forest to clear our minds."

Loki shook his head. "No you don't understand. _I don't want to go back_ "

Oh. Loki still wanted to leave Asgard. Not that Thor blamed him but where could they...Oh! Could Thor do that? It wasn't too soon was it? "Where do you want to go then?" Thor asked tentatively.

Loki bit his lip. "If we go to Vanaheim or Alfheim uncle Freyr and aunt Freya will rat us out. Etri would never let us in to begin with. Jotunheim is out of the question and Muspelheim is full of fanatics...."

"We could go to Midgard..." Thor suggested. "We haven't visited it for centuries. The humans won't recognize us and they are not beholden to Odin like the rest of the realms. We could just.....blend in. There is also little on Midgard that could hurt or attack us... we'd be safe **and** it is the last place anyone would think to look for us."

Loki thought about it. It was a good suggestion. It was a very good suggestion. Loki looked at Thor appraisingly. "Since when are you so smart?"

Thor tugged Loki's hair. "Brat. I was always smart or did you forget who helped you with your numbers when you were young?"

Loki smiled a real smile and Thor sighed in relief but then Loki looked at him with a rather vulnerable expression. "You truly don't care...? That I am..."

Thor put both hands on Loki's shoulders and made sure Loki was meeting his eyes. "Loki you can have blue or pink or green or any kind of skin and ten horns, be a man or a woman or a snake or a cat or anything else you want....it would not change the fact that you are my brother. Never. Besides this explains so much."

"Like what?" Loki asked apprehensively.

"Like why your feet are always so cold Honestly! It's like sleeping with a block of ice!" Thor complained.

Just like that Loki scrunched his nose. "Well you snore! I don't whine about it do I?"

Thor let out a mock offended noise. "How could you?! Me the glorious golden prince? Snores? What will the people say?!"

Loki had a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Just you wait till they find out you are scared of spiders. I have the memory recorded on a memory stone!"

"No!" Thor exclaimed dramatically. "I am ruined!"

Loki burst out laughing. "Stop it you oaf! You're not fooling anyone. You're a terrible actor."

Thor smiled. "Well it's a good thing then that I have a brother who's adept at illusions isn't it? When do you want to leave? More importantly how do we leave? I don't suppose Heimdall will help. It would defeat the point of running away as you say" Thor pointed out.

Loki shuffled on his feet. Thor had gone beyond anything Loki had ever expected from him today. But could Loki really trust him with all of his secrets? There was no other choice he realized not unless Loki wanted to return Thor's kindness by dumping him and he didn't want to....Thor who defended Loki in front of their parents, who was still here placing his trust in Loki deserved better.

"I might know of a way to get to Midgard without Heimdall's help....but I need....I need a little time..." Loki said, looking at Thor for any hint of disapproval but Thor only nodded.

"Of course. Do you want to go back to the palace? We would need to pack some things for our journey. Coin being foremost amongst it. I have some hidden in my room for emergencies. It should be enough for Midgard." Thor suggested.

Loki nodded. "I have some hidden away too. We need clothes, I can then morph them to match whatever it is Midgardians wear these days. We should also take some potions for...healing just in case and Mjolnir.....it would be foolish to leave it behind. I'll help you disguise it. We can leave by noon."

"It's settled then. Use your illusions brother and hide us. We'll sneak into the palace and gather all the supplies and meet back here then follow your lead." Thor agreed.

Loki blinked still surprised at how easily Thor was going along with things. But time was short and for now Loki was loathe to be alone. He cast an illusion so he and Thor looked like regular servants and teleported them closer to the palace. Then they parted going to their respective tasks.

Thor slithered through the hallways. He hadn't planned on going to Midgard but now that the opportunity had presented itself he was grateful for it. Thor missed his human friends and he would have eventually reached out to them, this was just a bit sooner than he'd intended. On the other hand Thor could hardly wait to introduce Loki to Midgard. Properly this time, no horrible mind controlling scepters in the way. Oh yes. It was going to be just perfectly splendid. Now to get off Asgard in one piece...

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of course Odin is the kind of guy who'd pour hot water on their kid if they had a burn. Frigga for all her pretty words does nothing. Which as Thor says is almost as bad as doing the wrong thing. And yes in the moment Thor let his power shine through, Odin was reminded of Hela.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all you lovely people for all your wonderful comments!! They make my day 😊  
> Here is the next one. I hope you all like it!  
> Also to answer a couple of queries:  
> 1\. Yes Loki is going to be gender fluid in this fic.  
> 2\. And yes Thor and Loki were lovers on Statesman in the timeline Thor came from.  
> I do not get the time to individually reply to the comments but I do read each and every one. So if you have any queries feel free to ask them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them every time I update.

Sif sat in the the banquet hall not really in the mood to eat. Fandral and Hogun were also pushing the food around in their plates. Volstagg was the only one with an appetite but then again Volstagg always had an appetite. Sif sighed, Thor was no where to be seen. She had gone to his room only to find he was not there. The servants said he had gone to Loki's room which just made Sif's blood boil. She'd stomped to Loki's room only to find neither Thor nor Loki were there anymore. Defeated she had no choice but to go to the banquet hall alone. She just did not get it. Why was Thor suddenly so interested in spending time with that brat? It was as if he woke up yesterday and was a completely different person. Something was wrong Sif just knew it.

"Is no one going to talk about it then?" Volstagg asked shoving a piece of bread in his mouth.

"Talk about what?" Hogun asked.

"How our Prince is suddenly spending so much time with his dear brother. Don't tell me you don't think it odd" Volstagg pointed out.

Fandral sighed. "Well I mean the servants said he was actually busy with council meetings all day yesterday. He's to be King in a matter of days it makes sense that he won't have as much time for us. And I also heard a rumor that Loki is set to be the chief advisor maybe that's why Thor was with him yesterday..."

"That is horseshit! Loki? The chief advisor? Have you gone mad?" Sif exclaimed. "Might as well get a snake and name it Thor's right hand. Don't be ridiculous Fandral. Something is up and I can bet my left arm it has to do with that nithing!"

"Are you saying Loki has done something to Thor?" Hogun asked. "Sif come on. Loki does love pranks but I don't think he would do something like that. It is too far and too great an accusation against him. Don't forget he is our Prince too."

Just then there was a commotion outside. Sif and the others looked at each other before rushing out. Guards were running here and there. In the distance Volstagg saw the Queen disappear around a corner. Fandral caught one of the guards. "Wait! What happened?"

The guard looked a bit confused. "Prince Thor says Prince Loki has been injured. He commanded us to fetch Lady Eir but King Odin dismissed us. Queen Frigga says she shall tend to Prince Loki personally. They are in the vault."

Fandral looked at his friends, letting the guard go. They turned to head to the vault but another guard stopped them. "No my Lord. Forgive me but on the Queen's command, no one is to enter the vault till told otherwise."

A direct order from the Queen could not be disobeyed so they had no choice but to go back to the banquet hall. Even Volstagg had lost his appetite now. A few minutes later there was again commotion outside. They all rushed outside to see King Odin fuming and Queen Frigga rushing after him. Thor and Loki were nowhere to be seen.

"Spread out into the city! Find my sons and bring them to me! NOW!" Odin roared. None of them had ever seen him so angry.

"No! My sons are not criminals! You will not treat them so. They will return when they wish to return!" Frigga argued.

The guards looked extremely confused. Not sure what to do. They had never seen the King and Queen at odds with each other like this. Sif frowned. She took a step forward hesitantly. "Your Grace? What is the matter? Has something happened to Thor?"

"It is none of your concern!" Frigga yelled at Sif, shocking her. She sighed. "I'm sorry. It's...nothing. You need not worry. Go back to your work."

Frigga left chasing after Odin before Sif could respond or ask anything else. Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun all looked at each other. It would seem something serious had happened but what? They had questions but no answers.

Sif started after Frigga, Fandral caught her hand. "Wait! What are you doing?"

Sif rolled her eyes. "We're not going to find anything by sitting around. Come on. Thor could be in trouble. We have to find out what happened."

The others looked apprehensive but then gave in. Hogun nodded. "You two go ahead. If all of us disappear at the same time it will look suspicious. I and Volstagg will keep an eye out for Thor here."

Sif nodded. Fandral hesitated. He was not sure about this. But then again he really wanted to know what was going on too. They both crept towards Odin's study where the King and Queen would be hopefully...

Frigga entered Odin's study and found him pacing. Odin glared at her. "They cannot just leave like this! They have responsibilities and duties to perform! This is unacceptable behavior Frigga!"

"Well what did you expect?!! I told we should not have kept Loki in the dark about his parentage! Now look what you have done! The guards will **not** chase them down Odin. Let them return in their own time. It is the least we can do!" Frigga said firmly.

"Are you going against my command?!" Odin demanded. "You cannot!"

Frigga stared Odin down. "I can and I am. You will not take my sons away too not after.....You must give them time Odin. It is our own fault for lying to them for so long. They will come back.."

Odin sighed. "What if they don't? You saw Thor in the vault. Since when is he able to call on his power without Mjolnir? We suppressed his powers for a reason Frigga. They are too volatile."

"He seemed to have control over it. It is not possible for Thor to suddenly manifest his powers overnight. He must have been able to do it for sometime..." Frigga replied.

Odin looked at her like that was what he had wanted to hear. "Precisely. So he hid it from us. Who knows what else he's hiding. Loki was in the vault invisible to me and Thor until I cast a spell to reveal him. What are they upto Frigga? What are they trying to do?"

Frigga looked concerned. "I don't know. I don't know. But we are not right either Odin. We've made mistakes too. Maybe that's why they don't trust us enough to tell us everything. Fighting like this won't lead anywhere. We are their parents, we have to keep our patience. Please give them time...."

Odin looked at Frigga for a long moment but then he relented. "Fine. I will delay the coronation. But if they have not returned in a fortnight, I will send the soldiers after them. No matter their mistakes or ours, running away is not the solution."

Frigga nodded. She got what she wanted. Time. Now all she had to do was reach out to Loki and Thor and convince them to return. They could still fix this. Outside Odin's study, Sif and Fandral crept away and went back to the banquet hall. Volstagg and Hogun were waiting for them.

"Well. What did you discover?" Volstagg asked unable to contain himself.

Fandral looked around to make sure no one was listening to them. "We did not understand all of it but it would seem Loki is....he is not exactly related to Thor. Queen Frigga was saying something about keeping him in the dark about his parentage. I don't know....and then King Odin said Thor was able to summon his power! without Mjolnir! They're worried he won't be able to control it. They've left the palace without informing anyone and it would seem they might not return for sometime. The coronation is to be delayed."

Sif banged her fist on the table. "I bet this is all a scheme concoted by that brat! He has always been jealous of Thor. This is exactly what he wanted! Norns know if Thor even went willingly. I am worried. No matter what King Odin says we have to find them"

"But where do we even start? We did not see Thor or Loki leave. We have no idea how they got out of the palace without anyone noticing." Hogun pointed out.

"We can go to Heimdall." Volstagg suggested. "He sees all. If anyone can find Thor and Loki it is him."

The others found the suggestion was good. They strapped their weapons on and hurried to the stables. Sif ran into a servant on the way. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed.

The servant a tall man with blond hair only smiled. "It is alright My Lady. I was not watching where I was going. My apologies."

"None needed lad." Volstagg said. "Come on Sif."

Sif frowned. The smile, it had felt....familiar. She shook her head. She was so baffled she was seeing Thor everywhere. Sif hurried after the others. Thor watched her leave, sighing in relief. He'd been worried for a moment that Sif might recognize him despite the illusion. Thor had taken his money and packed his clothes in a bag. All that was left was to disguise Mjolnir but he needed Loki for that so he decided to head to Loki's room to get him. Thor was careful to avoid looking at the guards, trying to act natural. He spotted Loki just getting out of his room carrying a tray of various foods obviously trying to appear as if he was simply there to bring the food.

When Loki spotted Thor he hurried over to him nodding at him. Thor understood and turned back to go to his room, but Loki caught up to him and whispered as he passed Thor by. "No. Go to our spot. Leave it to me."

Thor did not nod, simply turned down a hallway as if that was what he always intended to do. He weaved through the palace making his way to the courtyard and then leaving. He noticed Sif and the others heading out as well. Probably to look for Thor themselves, maybe even to go to Heimdall. It would not matter, Thor knew Loki could hide from Heimdall just as well as he could hide from Odin. The only reason the spell in the vault had worked was because Loki had been distracted. Thor wanted to trust his friends but he knew he could not. So he paid them no mind weaving through the city and heading back to the forest.

Once there it was a waiting game. Not one of Thor's strong points but he had no choice. Thor knew that once on Midgard, they would need identification and other proofs. From his past life Thor knew of people that made such identification 'illegally' so to speak. Clint had explained it to Thor that they often used certain 'contacts' to get papers that would help them in their missions. Thor could in theory use that knowledge, but he would have no way to justify it. Maybe he should let Loki handle these matters. With his sedir it would take Loki very little to replicate any document, any proof they needed.

In the palace, Loki sneaked into Thor's room and went over to Mjolnir. He could not lift it but he could send it into a pocket dimension. So that was what he did. Later he could disguise it however Thor wanted. Loki made sure he had his journal and turned to leave, only to find Frigga in the doorway. Loki acted surprised. "Your Grace? I just came to..."

Frigga held a hand up. "I taught you how to create that disguise Loki, you cannot fool me with it."

Loki's expression went stone cold, he dropped the illusion. "You cannot stop me."

Frigga shook her head. "I am not here to stop you. Go if that is what you want. But please Loki, promise me you'll come back. It doesn't matter if it's in a day or a month or a year or a century. Please just come back." Frigga pleaded

Loki wanted very to much to hug his mother and give her the promise she wanted but then his eyes fell on his hand, the same hand that had turned blue. Lie. His whole life was a lie even his very skin was a lie. What right did his mo-Frigga have to claim such a promise from Loki when all she'd done was lie to him?! Loki shook his head.

"I can't promise that." He replied. "And why should I? What right do you have to expect that I return? Why should I return? Why would I want to be in a place where I try and try to fit in day and night and it still isn't enough! You say Odin took me in as his own and yet all he's ever done is put me down. And all this time I thought maybe I was doing something wrong that maybe something was wrong with me. But that's not it is it?! I can never be enough because no matter how much he claims to love me I am nothing more than a relic. Another thing the great Odin earned through war. Just another thing, sitting in the corner till he might have use of me. So I'm very sorry Queen Frigga but you are not my mother. You were never my mother and I...I am not beholden to you. Now move. You've done enough for one lifetime. You don't get to ask for anything."

Frigga looked like Loki had ripped her heart out. It was hard to see her like this. But Loki was angry and he was hurt and he just wanted out. He was fed up of this stupid realm and all these people who did nothing but shun him and hate him and lie to him. Frigga looked at Loki for a long time but then she bowed her head and moved aside. Loki let his illusion take over once again. He weaved through the hallways and found a secluded spot and teleported back to the spot in the forest.

Thor was pacing in concern, obviously worried that maybe Loki had been caught. He sighed in relief when he saw Loki. "Ah. There you are! I was worried for a moment. Where is Mjolnir?"

Loki shook his head to clear his thoughts. "In a pocket dimension. It was the safest way to get it out of the palace. You have everything?"

Thor pointed at the bag strapped to his back. "Yes. How are we supposed to get out? Can you teleport between realms as well?"

Loki chuckled. "I am good at sedir but not that good. No, we'll use a path between the realms. Through Yggdrasil all realms are connected there are places where the barriers are thin enough that a mage worth their salt could make a tear so to speak and cross over. We just need a point where Asgard's barrier connects to Midgard. I....I did some exploring last year...I discovered many such points....I did not cross over through all of them but......I have a map. The place we are looking for is near the edge of the mountains."

Thor nodded. "As you say brother. Lead the way. I would like to get to Midgard before father decides to send soldiers out looking for us."

Loki nodded. He led Thor through the forest near the mountains that Thor recognized also held the hidden fortress Heimdall had used to hide their people from Hela in another time. He hoped this path wasn't through the fortress. That one had murals of Hela and really that was not something Thor wanted Loki to see. Yet. One thing at a time. But fortunately Loki turned just before the foot of the mountains and led Thor through a cave. It was deep and despite trusting Loki, Thor was a bit uneasy.

As they went deeper, Loki conjured a floating light to illuminate their way. Thor marveled at how resourceful Loki could be. He didn't really need anyone did he? They reached the end of the cave and Thor noticed some things that definitely did not belong in Asgard. They must have fallen through whenever the barriers became too thin. Unless the toy maker in the market had suddenly started producing a finding nemo plushie. Thor sniffled, that movie had moved him rather deeply. Thor totally did not cry when Nemo was re-united with his father. He didn't.

Loki traced the edges of the cave's wall drawing Thor's attention. "Thor! Come here" Loki reached out a hand and Thor took it. Loki took them through the path and Thor felt the same sensation of displacement he'd felt when he'd crossed over through the path on Svartalfheim with Jane during the convergence. Thor closed his eyes and let the path carry them to Midgard.

At the Bifrost Heimdall felt a sudden change in the barrier around Asgard. He had already been looking for the missing Princes, more out of genuine concern than anger unlike Odin. He turned his eyes to the mountains, looking for the source of this disturbance but could neither see nor hear anyone. He might have investigated more but Sif along with Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun came to the Bifrost at that moment. Heimdall looked at them questioningly.

"Good Heimdall. How do you fare this noon?" Volstagg began.

Heimdall looked at him unimpressed. "I do not know where Prince Thor or Prince Loki are."

Volstagg looked taken aback. Sif took a step forward. " **You** cannot find them? You who sees all? That is not possible Heimdall. Look again. We have to get to Thor."

Heimdall raised one eyebrow. "Only Thor? Not Loki? Why Lady Sif if I knew better I would say you are accusing Prince Loki. I assure you, your suspicions are misplaced. I admit many of Loki's actions can be questionable for once he is not at fault. There are things at work that were beyond his control. You would do well to not base your conclusions on half heard conversations"

Fandral swallowed. Heimdall had seen them spy on the King and Queen then. "We....we are only worried for Thor.....and Loki. Everything happened so suddenly. We fear they might be in peril."

Heimdall nodded. "A valid concern but frivolous. They are not in peril. And I do not know where they are. But even if I did I am not beholden to give that information to you. The Queen sent orders that none but her and the King may be made aware of the whereabouts of the Princes. Now you must pardon me, I must resume my duties."

That was a clear dismissal and none of the warriors knew how to challenge Heimdall's words. Defeated here as well, Fandral pulled Sif away before she could say something utoward and anger Heimdall. They had no choice but to return to the palace. They retired to their common room set aside for them to relax in. Sif was still jumpy though, she paced.

Hogun sighed. "Sif you heard Heimdall. He probably knows where Thor and Loki are and maybe the King and Queen do as well. They just..don't want to tell us...."

Sif glared at Hogun. "Well that's not fair! We're Thor's friends! We deserve to know!" Sif sat down tugging her hair in frustration. "I...I can't....I don't trust Loki no matter what everyone says. I have to see Thor....It's alright if he does not want to return to Asgard but I have to see him whole and alive with my own eyes."

Fandral sagged. "Well but how do we find him? Heimdall was our only option unless you have suddenly developed a gift for scrying. They could be anywhere. Maybe they have left Asgard altogether and Heimdall just refuses to tell us."

Sif bit her lip, then she sat straighter. "Well I don't know how to scry but we can find a mage or a witch who does! All we need is a little hint and then we'll handle the rest."

Volstagg looked apprehensive. "I don't know.....it seems too risky to trust a _sedir wielder_. They're not real warriors like us."

Sif sighed. "I know. I **know**. But we have little choice. Let's look around the city first. All the familiar places we know where Thor used to go to escape the palace and if we still don't find him...we'll try the scrying thing."

The others seemed to like that idea. Hogun nodded. "Alright. I say we start with the forest. Thor did not camp there often but Loki did and since they both seem to have run off together it is possible they might be there."

Everyone nodded and headed out again. Sif looked at Thor's helm which was still in their common room. Heimdall was wrong. Sif was worried about Loki. She was worried about what he was doing to Thor. He was taking Thor away from her and she was not going to let that happen. She wanted to find him and once she did she was going to end that snake once and for all...

Thor and Loki opened their eyes and found themselves behind a grey building. They turned the corner and Thor's mouth dropped open in surprise. Of course. Puente Antiguo. Thor should have known. The town's name literally meant ancient bridge after all. Really Thor should have seen this coming. Loki looked around curiously. He noticed the clothes in the display of a shop and in a blink Thor was wearing a full suit. It was too formal but Thor could argue about that some other time. Loki looked at a passing car and at the people milling about.

He frowned. "Huh. Primitive. Small. No tiny. And dusty. You were right brother no one would think we'd ever come _here_. Now we just need to find a trader to trade our gold for some Midgardian coin and find a place to stay. Are all Midgardian cities so small? Oh! Perhaps this is a village. Yes that seems more appropriate."

Thor decided to let all the rude comments go. Loki was still taking things in. "Well....uh...." Thor looked around and spotted the pawn shop. "There! How about we start there?"

Loki shrugged. Thor smiled at him and took a step forward, without looking, completely his fault and promptly got hit by a car. Loki gasped. The owner of the car got out and frantically leaned over Thor.

"I'm so sorry! You moved suddenly! I didn't mean to do that!" A very familiar voice exclaimed.

Thor blinked up at one Jane Foster, looking exactly as she had in another time in another life when she'd found Thor in a storm. Well this day just got a whole lot more interesting....

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the warriors three and Sif could have enjoyed the luxuries that come with being friends with royalty their whole life. Sadly they are idiots and the kind of people who bite the hand that feeds them.  
> Also Thor totally cried when Nemo was re-united with Marlin. In my mind the Avengers all had movie nights inbetween missions during AOU solely because they wanted to see Thor and Steve's reactions


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I apologize for the extreme delay in posting this. (I got buried in work, office re-opening and project deadlines are not a good mixture. lol)  
> So now I am going to be posting weekly. I am putting this out there so everyone waiting for an update has a clear deadline to look to.  
> Thank you so much everyone for all your kudos and comments and support for this fic 😊

Loki leaned over Thor in concern when he simply lay there on the ground blinking at the woman who had just gotten out of the vehicle. He heard a strange sound and saw another vehicle behind the woman's was emitting it.

Thor finally seemed to regain his senses. Loki helped him up, looking him over to make sure he had no injuries. The woman waved at the vehicle behind hers directing it to move on. Thor gaped at her.

The woman frowned. "What the hell dude?!! You don't just step on to the road like that!! You have to look both ways before crossing. Idiot."

The woman turned to leave clearly no longer concerned now that she saw Thor was perfectly unharmed but Thor spoke suddenly. "I'm....Don!"

The woman looked at Thor in confusion. Thor held a hand out to her. "I mean...hi. I'm Don. This is....Luke. Sorry about stepping on the road just like that. I'm new here. Eh ...who are you?"

The woman blinked and then shook Thor's hand once. "Uh.... I'm Jane. Welcome to the town I guess...."

Jane turned to leave again but Thor spoke up again. "Do you....if you don't mind me asking.....do you know where we might find a place to live...?"

Jane frowned at Thor. "Well you could get a room at the motel. If you want a more permanent accommodation....I think Isabel is renting out the apartments above her diner. Over there. You can ask her if it's still available."

Thor nodded. "Thank you. I'm sorry again for.....stepping without looking." Thor put on his best smile. Loki saw Jane blush

Jane shrugged. "Just don't do it again."

Jane and Thor stared at each other neither of them moving. Loki rolled his eyes, the last thing he wanted was to watch Thor flirt with some woman. He was about to interrupt this useless staring competition when he heard a strange noise again.

Jane stared at Thor until her phone rang. It actually rang and went to voicemail before she realized it was her. "Oh! Sorry." Jane looked at her phone. It was Erik. "I.....I better get going. I have to be somewhere. Nice to meet you Don."

Thor nodded. He watched Jane drive off. Talk about fate. He turned to Loki only to find him glaring. "What?" Thor asked.

Loki rolled his eyes again. "Nothing. Shall we then?"

Thor nodded. They crossed the road, Thor being careful to look both ways this time and went to the pawn shop. The shopkeeper Logan looked at them a bit suspiciously but did buy some jewels from them in exchange of money. After he had given the money and Thor had pocketed it, Loki stepped into Logan's line of sight.

"Look at me." He said his voice holding a timber that Thor knew it got only when Loki was using his sedir

Logan seemed hypnotized as he did as Loki instructed. Loki read Logan's mind gleaning information about the law of the place they were in. Identification that they would need and anything else useful. Logan stared blankly and pulled out his license for Loki who took it and used his sedir to create copies of it. Finally Loki withdrew from Logan's mind. Logan blinked coming back to himself. He would have a mild headache for the rest of the day and feel a bit floaty but nothing more. Loki smiled at him and thanked him. Logan still a bit disoriented only nodded back dumbly. They left the shop and Thor pulled Loki aside away from the crowd.

"What did you do?" Thor asked. Loki had expected anger but there was only curiosity.

"I gleaned information about the town, the laws we need to be careful of. Apparently we need a license and social security number, also a passport if we wish to travel out of the country and most people use cards to purchase things, so we would need those too. Proof of education we claim to have. Proof that we have experience in case we seek work. Humans are so odd." Loki explained.

Thor nodded. "Did it hurt? You reading Logan's mind like that. Did it hurt? Would it leave an... impression?"

Loki shook his head. "No. Not at all. I was there for but a few minutes. He might have a headache today but he would be perfectly fine tomorrow. No side effects."

Loki waited again for anger, perhaps a frowning down on of his methods but Thor only nodded. "Very well. Where do you recommend we procure the things you say we will need?"

Loki blinked. Since when was Thor so accepting of his sedir? He squinted looking for what he did not know. Thor only looked back waiting Loki realized to follow his lead. That was...that was...that had not happened in a long long time.

"Uh....well I can conjure the identities we need. I created these copies of Logan's license, I can morph the picture, name and everything else to suit our needs. And I see a bank there so I suppose we could deposit the money we now have and get these cards we should have. I can....smooth over any hurdles along the way...." Loki said tentatively.

"Would this smoothing over hurt anyone?" Thor asked.

Loki bit his lip. "No. I have done it in the past.... it's just a harmless trick..."

Thor shrugged. "Fine. Then I see no harm in using it. We do need to blend in. I was thinking maybe we could go with Borson as our last name. I....I think Odinson is too on the nose..."

Loki chuckled. "Ah yes. It kind of is. Even if our names barely resemble our actual names. Where did you come up with Don and Luke?"

Thor tried to appear nonchalant. "It just slipped out...".

Loki frowned. It was too specific to have just slipped out but then again Thor was being open minded, he hadn't protested to Loki's actions, the least Loki could do was return the favor. Loki shrugged. They moved on to the bank. Loki morphing the copies he had of Logan's license to reflect their new names with their pictures. He used his sedir so the computer gave the results expected when the worker at the bank entered the details.

Twenty minutes later, Luke Borson and his brother Don Borson had accounts at the bank and their credit cards would arrive within the week. Thor's stomach grumbled then which amused Loki to no end. They decided to go to the diner for food. They needed to speak to Isabel about the apartments anyways.

Once they were seated at a table by the window and had ordered their food, Thor leaned forward. "Have you thought about what we are going to be doing while we are here?"

Loki shook his head. "No. To be honest we have enough gold that we could live on it for a human's lifespan on Midgard. Perhaps we should invest in some businesses. We need not work a job. Let's see. I saw a shop that sells furniture. Perhaps you could take up some work there temporarily. You do like wood work and are incessantly critiquing my furniture."

"Your desk is a mismatch for the rest of your room! It does not fit in with green gold theme!" Thor defended.

Loki let out a loud sigh. "I think it's a little hypocritical to judge other people's décor choices when your own room looks like someone dropped a bucket of gold all over it. My desk needs to hold all the important papers that you can't be bothered to look at so who gives a fuck if it goes with the rest of the room!"

Thor looked a little sheepish. "You could have told father I was not doing my work properly. You didn't have to cover it up."

Loki's gaze softened. He put a hand over Thor's on the table. "Yes well I was just making up for all those times my stupid oaf of a brother covered for me in the training ring. I can be nice like that"

Thor played with Loki's fingers. "How generous of you. Well your stupid oaf of a brother promises to do better from now so you need not cover for him anymore."

Loki smiled. "Deal. I will simply make the papers fly to father's room next time."

Thor laughed. "I bet it will be just as he is about to say something important to mother. You're so mean Loki."

Isabel came with their food at that moment, looking at Thor and Loki's joined hands with a raised eyebrow. "Well here you go boys. Four steaks. Two slices of apple pie, a stack of pancakes and two plates of waffles. Oh and here's your strawberry milkshake and coffee."

Isabel set everything down, still looking skeptical until Loki smiled at her brightly. "Thank you so much. This looks lovely."

In Thor's experience all middle aged women felt the need to mother Loki and Isabel was no different. She smiled and fixed Loki's collar. "You're welcome dear. Just holler if you need something."

Isabel left and Loki looked rather excitedly at his milkshake. Isabel had recommended it when Thor mentioned Loki would like something sweet to drink that was not hot. Now here it was, pink and with cream and two cherries. Loki plucked out the strange stick with a hole from the glass and drank straight from the glass. Perfect.

Thor watched amused as Loki gave himself a white mustache, drinking directly from the glass. He tried to lick it off but failed. Thor shook his head fondly and took his napkin, gently rubbing the cream off Loki's face. Loki smiled at him all bright and happy and continued to drink his milkshake. It warmed Thor's heart to see Loki happy like this. He wanted to kiss Loki but he couldn't.

Thor stabbed his steak a bit too hard. He had to get these thoughts out of his mind. Thor was not going to let his feelings ruin their relationship. They ate, finishing all of the food which surprised Isabel and some of the patrons around them. After all Loki looked like he ate air and though Thor had the bulk it was still a lot of food. When Isabel came with their bill, Thor decided to talk about the apartment.

"So..me and my brother were looking for a place to live and we heard you are renting out an apartment. We think it might fit our needs. Is it still available?" Thor asked.

Isabel nodded. "It is still available but it has only one bedroom. You will have to share."

Loki shrugged. "I am fine with sharing. As long as you don't snore. Oaf"

"You keep your cold feet to yourself and then we'll talk about these assumptions about me snoring." Thor retorted.

Isabel laughed. "Now now boys no bickering. Why don't you come have a look at the apartment now and see if you can share without bringing it down. I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night to a brawl. I am too old to keep climbing those stairs."

"Do you have an apartment as well?" Loki asked curiously.

Isabel shook her head. "Not exactly. I have a house just behind it. So I can hear all the ruckus in the apartments if it's loud enough. My last tenant, this girl who came from the University for research, would be banging things at late night, making equipment she called it. I don't mind, but I need quiet to sleep you know. I just couldn't put up with it."

Loki nodded. "We won't make noise. Well I won't make noise. I promise to throw Don out the window if he does." Loki said sincerely

Isabel ruffled Loki's hair. "I can see who's the mischief maker in the house. No throwing your brother out of windows. I am sure it will be fine. Come along then, have a look."

Isabel led them to the back of the diner that had stairs leading up to an apartment. It was not much at least for Thor and Loki who were used to the opulence of Asgard but it had a bedroom as Isabel said, a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom. It was enough to start with. It also had furniture so that was one less thing to worry about. They were also directly above the diner and had a good view of the main street, something Loki liked.

Thor smiled at Isabel. "Yes, I think this is perfect for us. If we fill out the application now and pay for the deposit, how soon can we move in?"

Isabel shrugged. "Right away I suppose. Tell you what, I'll bring the application. You fill it up and sleep here tonight. We can iron out the rest tomorrow morning."

Loki nodded gratefully. "Thank you so much Isabel."

Isabel smiled at Loki. "Oh it's fine. Well you boys settle in. The diner will run till evening. I'll bring the application in a few minutes."

Isabel left. Loki immediately weaved a silencing spell around the apartment so no noise from inside would go outside. Thor set his bag on the floor and poked his head in the kitchen noting everything they would need. There was a fridge and a microwave and of course the stove. They would need utensils and food though. Loki took stock of the bedroom and the bath making a note of buying bedsheets and towels and soaps. They reconvened in the living room.

Thor sighed. "Well we still need about a hundred things to make this house more livable. What do you say we purchase them now rather than later?"

Loki nodded. "Sure. We don't really have anything else to do."

Isabel came back then with the application for the apartment. Thor filled it up and handed it to her. She handed them the keys to the apartment, which Loki pocketed. Then they left saying they needed to purchase some things. Thor spotted a supermarket and pulled Loki towards it. Loki looked at everything with wide eyes, taking in the sheer variety the humans had. They started with the essentials, basic cooking pots and spoons, some cutlery where they bickered over the design until Thor relented and let Loki have his way. A process that repeated itself with the bedsheets and the pillow covers and the towels and quite literally everything else. Some of the people stared at them oddly. Thor paid them no mind, instead trying to convince Loki to let him pick the curtains at least. Loki refused to budge.

Thor let out a frustrated sigh. "Loki come on! We bought everything else the way you wanted it. We have green sheets and green pillows and green towels and that stupid rose scented soap for some reason. Please let me pick the curtains at least. It's not so bad!"

Loki pouted. "I don't like blue! I want the green ones. What's wrong about having rose scented soap? The lavender was too mild"

Thor motioned to himself. "It sort of doesn't go with the image you know."

Loki frowned "What image? Of being a brute? What did you want a soap that smelled like dirt and sweat? Would that help with the image?"

Someone snorted from beside Loki. He turned and saw it was the woman from earlier...Jane. She looked sheepish. "Sorry. I didn't mean to overhear. It's just that you're loud and it's not like I can shut my ears. You make a good point though. Personally I think rose is a nice scent...."

Thor perked up then. "Really? Well I suppose I did have rose scented oil back home. I guess it would be fine...."

Loki frowned looking between Thor and Jane. He didn't know what to name the emotion that suddenly bubbled in his chest. He wanted Thor to agree with **him** not some human woman. Loki tossed the rose soap out of their cart. "Well I want the lavender soap now and that's what you're going to use too if you want to live with me!"

Thor blinked surprised at the sudden outburst. That had been real anger not Loki being difficult just to annoy Thor. He smiled at Jane. "Sorry. He can be moody. Thank you for the advice on houses. We got the apartment." Thor heard a bang and turned his head to see a worker insisting Loki could not take the curtain on display like that. Thor winced. He smiled at Jane sheepishly. "Uh...well see you around"

Thor hurried to Loki and managed to reassure the worker. He just put whatever curtain Loki had picked without arguing in their cart. Loki still seemed put off. What set him off escaped Thor. Still for the sake of keeping peace, Thor pulled Loki to the aisle with all the chocolates and candies. Loki loved sweets of all kinds, shapes and forms. As expected he forgot all about whatever it was that bothered him. Thor let Loki look at each and every candy and then pick the ones he wanted. Even if by the end it looked like they were trying to kill someone by giving them diabetes. To compensate Thor put entirely too many boxes of pop tarts in their cart. The girl at the counter looked worried so Thor gave her his best smile, she blushed, Loki glared at her. Thor gave up and just ushered Loki out.

They carried everything back to the apartment, where Loki proceeded to fish out a packet of M&Ms and leave all the work for Thor. Thor shook his head. It was so like him. He put all the food away and set the utensils in the drawers and the cutlery in the racks. He put the towels in the bathroom and the damn lavender soap on the soap dish. He changed their bedsheets and pillow covers and then changed the curtains. Finally when everything was done, Thor sighed sitting on the sofa beside Loki with a box of pop tarts.

Loki looked at them curiously, so Thor held one out to him. Loki took a bite and chewed, frowning, then pushed Thor's hand away. Thor chuckled, happily stuffing it in his mouth. He tugged at Loki's sleeve. "Hey Loki? Can we dress down now? I tire of these clothes."

Loki nodded and Thor was again in the clothes he had left Asgard in. He took off the bits of armor and Loki waved a hand storing them in his pocket dimension. Thor rolled his shoulders. "Maybe we can just buy some human clothes instead of you having to transform our actual clothes all the time."

Loki shrugged. "Maybe. Later though. I want to search more information about midgard first. I saw a library while we were out. It's still...." Loki looked at the clock on the wall. "It's only five o'clock. I am going to the library."

Thor nodded. "Fine. I will see if I can find work at the furniture shop. Do you want to eat dinner here or in the diner?"

"Here. I tire of these clothes too." Loki said, getting up.

The M&M wrapper in his hand just disappeared. Loki concentrated and transformed his clothes so that now he was wearing jeans and a green t-shirt with a black jacket. Thor was now wearing the same only his t-shirt was red and his jacket was blue. Loki sighed, much better. Loki left waving absently at Thor. He headed to the library. In Logan's memories he had seen how a computer worked so he was fairly certain he could use it to search for information. In the library there appeared to be only one elderly lady who smiled at him when he asked where the computers were and even directed him on which 'browsers' to use. Loki thanked her and searched for prominent people in the country of USA.

One name brought a lot of results, Dr. Stark. So Loki searched for him and blinked at the results. It would seem Anthony Edward Stark was a hero of Midgard. A very accomplished warrior if the images of his armor were real. He was supposedly about to launch the Stark Expo a week and a half from today. Interesting. The Expo would allow people to showcase their accomplishments in various scientific fields. A scholar too then. Loki could appreciate that. The clock in the computer said it was almost seven o' clock. Loki should head home. He wanted to treat Thor. Something to appreciate him coming to Midgard with Loki.

Well they hadn't bought any big portions of meat, so maybe Loki should get some and have a meal ready by the time Thor came home. Thor would like that. Loki hurried to leave and in that hurry knocked someone over. Of course because his reflexes were a bit faster than the average human he caught the person before they fell. It was Jane again. Why was this bloody woman everywhere?! Jane looked a little flushed and Loki realized he hand an arm around her waist and was rather close to her. He let go of her immediately which made Jane stumble a bit before she regained her footing. There were papers strewn on the floor, that Loki assumed fell when Jane was knocked over.

He bent to pick them up. Jane bent down too. "Sorry. I was in a hurry and I didn't see you were getting up. Luke right? I'm Jane. Uh..Jane Foster..."

"Luke Borson." Loki replied curtly. Then he noticed the images on the papers. If Loki's memory served him well and it did, he was looking at images of Nidhogg and Ratatsok and Duneyr. These were constellations that should be visible only from Asgard. How did the human woman get images of them?

"You like stars?" Jane asked. When Loki only blinked at her, she stuttered. "I...I mean....I'm an astrophysicist. That means I study stars and these are some of the pictures I took with my equipment...that I made....on my own I mean. Some of them are from the Hubble Telescope. A friend of mine has contacts and got them for me. I have this theory...You see these stars...they're not normal...I mean the stars are normal...because that would be ridiculous... but being able to see them from Earth? That's not normal and every time there was this....I don't know how to describe it...it was like a pool of melted stars...like...a rolling rainbow ribbon"

Loki blinked at Jane, she had just unknowingly described the Bifrost. When Loki didn't respond for a few minutes, Jane sagged. "Sorry....I get carried away sometimes....." Jane stood up, having gathered all her papers. Loki stood up as well, unsure what to say. Jane bit her lip. "So......Don was telling me you managed to get the apartment. That's....that's nice. I used to stay there....before...Isabel didn't like me working late nights. And I study stars so I'm always working late nights....not that I don't take a night off....sometimes....I do...I just...."

Loki listened to the woman ramble on and decided to have mercy on her before it got any more awkward. "Yes. Isabel mentioned you made equipment at night which disturbed her sleep. I promised her me and Don would be quiet. Now if you'll excuse me...."

Loki made to leave, but Jane stepped in his path. "You didn't answer my question. Do you like stars? Puente Antiguo doesn't really have much to offer but the sky. Are you here to study them like me?"

Loki was getting extremely tired of Jane Foster trying to chat with him. "No. Now I have to cook dinner and then I have dozens of other things to do. So take your stupid incorrect star charts and move out of my way. Thank you."

Jane frowned. "Hey! That's rude. And my charts are not wrong! Jeez. I was just trying to be nice."

"Please don't. Social ques are clearly not your forte." Loki sassed. He pulled a paper from Jane's hand despite her protests and held it up for her. "This mark you've made is wrong. This star is not part of the constellation. Look at the whole picture not just one angle." Loki shoved the paper back at Jane. "Now move."

He didn't wait for a response. Slightly pushing Jane aside and leaving the library. Outside Loki took a deep breath. He just did not like that woman. Well if he was being honest, he didn't like Thor's interest in her or the fact that Jane seemed to reciprocate. Loki huffed. Maybe they should go to another city. Somewhere far far away like....like New York where Loki could go see the Expo and keep Thor to himself.

Loki shook his head. He was getting distracted. Dinner. He needed meat for dinner. Loki went to the local market and bought some meat for Thor and fish for himself along with some vegetables and bread. He wondered idly what the Jotun ate. He hoped it was not raw meat as the tales said. After all Loki preferred fish and vegetables. That had to be a sign right? When Loki got back, Thor was apparently in the bath. Loki could hear the water running. There was an open box with holes on its side on the dining table along with some other things. Loki set the groceries aside and peered inside the box.

A tiny mewl came from inside. It was a little black kitten with yellow eyes. Loki gasped, immediately picking the little animal up and holding it in front of his face. The kitten mewled again and wriggled in Loki's hands. Loki smiled at it brightly, holding it close, letting it snuggle in his chest, its tiny nails scratching his jacket. The sound of the water stopped and Loki turned to see Thor coming out of the bath, a towel around his waist and another in his hand.

Thor smiled at Loki. "Ah. I see you've met our new tenant. I got work at the furniture shop. There's a pet store beside it. They sell animals. The owner said this little fellow was the last one left of a litter of five. The rest were all bought but this one's all black. Apparently the kids get scared of it and no one would buy him. I thought we could raise it."

Loki looked at the little kitten again. "He's perfect. What is his name?"

Thor shrugged. "I was hoping you'd name him. I want to call him Thor Jr. if you're taking suggestions"

Loki snorted. "Absolutely not. Ikol. I am going to call you Ikol."

"You do realize that is just your name spelled backwards don't you?" Thor pointed out.

Loki glared at him and Ikol hissed. "Shut up. See? Ikol likes his name."

"No one listens to me in this family" Thor complained, putting on a dejected expression.

"Perfect. That's exactly how it's supposed to be. Now go put some clothes on. You're dripping water all over the floor." Loki said.

Thor rolled his eyes. "Yes mother, whatever you say." But he did leave, going to the bedroom. Loki pouted for a moment but then his attention was drawn to Ikol who fussed.

"Are you hungry? Let's see what else the oaf has bought. Ah here. Well at least he had the good sense to buy you your own bowl. Come on let's get you some milk." Loki picked up the bowl Thor had bought and after looking for a moment managed to find the milk in the fridge.

He poured some milk in Ikol's bowl and set him down beside it. Ikol immediately started lapping at the milk. Loki watched the tiny kitten fondly before moving on to making dinner. He washed the vegetables and cut up the meat and rubbed some spices over it then used the memories he had gleaned from Logan to use the stove. After the meat was on the stove sizziling, the fish in the oven and the vegetables were cooking, Loki decided to set the table.

Ikol having finished his milk mewled again, so Loki picked him up rubbing his belly. Ikol purred, happily. Thor came out then dressed in his night clothes and smiled at them. "It smells great Loki. How is Ikol doing?"

Thor went to take Ikol from Loki but the kitten hissed at him. Loki laughed. "Well it would appear he still hasn't forgiven you for trying to name him Thor Jr. Food should be ready in a few minutes. Unfortunately the market did not have an entire cow for you to eat. You'll have to make do with the biggest portion of meat they had."

"Ha. Ha." Thor said sarcastically. "You know I don't nearly eat as much as you imply I do. Did you find anything useful at the library?"

Loki went to check on the food, keeping Ikol's paws from the pots, when the kitten tried to grab them and nodded. "Yes. I did. The food is done. Help me take it out? Ikol does not want to be set down."

Thor nodded. He took out the food in two plates. Meat for him and fish for Loki and set it on the dining table. He had actually gotten a bed for Ikol so he brought it over and Loki put Ikol in it and set him down by his feet as he sat down at the dining table. Thor tore some bread and prompted Loki. "So? What did you find?"

Loki took a bite of his fish. "Apparently a man by the name of Anthony Edward Stark has risen as hero of Midgard. He has always been a prominent figure, not just in the place we are in but all over Midgard but his popularity has spread even further since he supposedly invented an armor that can fly. I saw pictures of it. Dare I say it might give even the dwarves a run for their money."

Thor froze. Tony. Of course, any search for information on Midgard was incomplete without Iron Man. He kept eating though he was no longer as hungry as he'd been a few moments ago. "Really? Huh. I thought Midgard did not have warriors like that..."

Loki looked excited. "I know. That's what I thought too! But apparently that's not true. If the information I found is correct, Anthony is not only an accomplished smith and warrior, he's also a great scholar. He is going to have an exhibition set up in the city of New York where people from all over the world can come and exhibit their inventions. Can you imagine? A warrior promoting and helping scholars?! Amazing. I want to go there. Please Thor. Please?"

Thor didn't know what to say. Tony was his friend or well had been his friend in another life. In this life Tony did not even know Thor existed. Yet. Thor was supposed to meet Tony when Loki would suddenly appear in Midgard after being missing for a year. But that was never going to happen now was it? Thor had changed it when he changed the way Loki found out about his heritage. A sudden dread overcame Thor. What if in changing that one thing he had set things in motion that were not supposed to happen? What if Thor had messed it up?

Loki waved a hand in front of Thor's face. "Thor? Hello? Thor? Are you even listening? See Ikol? You see what I have to put up with? I am keeping you in the divorce." Loki told Ikol who mewled in return.

Thor blinked coming back to himself. "Huh? Oh. Sorry. I just.....I got lost somewhere. Uh....this exhibition....you said it's in the city of New York? Where is that? We just got settled here. Do you really want to move so soon? I mean can we wait at least till those cards arrive."

Loki shrugged. "Sure. We can wait. New York is a few hundred miles from here. But the humans have this invention called airplane. It transports people through air like our skiffs. Using a plane it is only four hours away. The exhibition will be open the entire year. We have time."

Thor nodded. The exhibition was not going to remain open the whole year. It was going to be interrupted when an enemy of Tony, Vanko if Thor recalled the tale was going to show up. But Loki did not know that. He was so excited to see the exhibition. And honestly in Thor's opinion, Tony and Loki would probably get along like old friends. It couldn't hurt to go there could it? Thor could maybe help Tony. Befriend his old friend again. Maybe **be** a better friend to him this time.

"When is the exhibition starting?" Thor asked, trying to work out the dates in his mind.

"In about a week and a half is the opening ceremony. Why?" Loki asked curiously.

"If it takes only four hours.....maybe we can go to the opening ceremony and look around before coming back...." Thor suggested.

Loki perked up. "Really? We can go?! Oh! Thank you Thor!" Loki got up and came around hugging Thor sideways briefly before sitting back down. "I'll research more and make preparations. You'll love it too Thor. There is supposed to weapons being displayed as well. It will be great!"

Thor smiled at Loki. Really how was Thor ever supposed to say no to Loki? The mention of weapons reminded him. "Oh. Mjolnir. Is it still in your pocket dimension?"

Loki nodded. "Oh yes. Sorry I forgot about that. Here."

Loki waved a hand and Mjolnir plopped down beside Ikol's bed, nearly denting the floor. Ikol bared his teeth at it, then mewled scared when Thor summoned Mjolnir to himself. Loki picked Ikol up soothing him. "It's alright. Papa's stupid hammer is not going to hurt you....He can control it....most of the time. I have evidence he tripped over it once and fell on his face..."

"Stop feeding these lies to our child! I didn't trip you made me trip!" Thor exclaimed.

Thor swore the expression Ikol gave him was skeptical. Wonderful. So that's how it was going to be. Loki rolled his eyes. "You have no proof of this baseless claim. How dare you accuse me. Come on Ikol we are going to the window. Let's see what the ants are up to now."

Thor spluttered. Loki left the table turning his nose up, Ikol giving a similar expression, Thor left with all the clean up. He sighed, then chuckled. Thor was pretty sure Ikol was now a trickster in training. He shook his head fondly, gathering all the dirty dishes. At least Mjolnir still listened to him. Thor washed all the dishes and set them on the rack to dry. He turned and saw Loki standing at the giant window in their living room, holding Ikol like a baby and pointing at the various people in the street.

If his friends avengers or otherwise could see him now they'd say Loki had him wrapped around his little finger. It wasn't a lie technically. It was awfully domestic. Sharing this apartment with Loki where he cooked the food and Thor did the dishes and they slept in the same bed. Thor went to stand beside Loki and watched as he made up stories about the people in the street and told them to Ikol. He would make a wonderful father. Thor couldn't help the thought from crossing his mind.

Damnit! Thor was not supposed to think like that! He was not supposed to look at Loki and wonder what it would be like to see him with their child. Thor mumbled an excuse about being tired and retreated to their bedroom. He sat on the bed and stared at the wall. Things were going so well. If only Thor could keep better control of his own stupid emotions! He had to get over it. He just had to. But thinking and doing were two different things.

Thor sighed, laying down in bed and turning on his side. It was still only nine but he felt exhausted. He had to make plans. Loki had taken the revelation of him being Jotun well enough but he also needed to explore his Jotun form. There were things about his true form he needed to know and Thor knew he was going to have to lead Loki to it. There was also the matter of the people around them. They'd run into Jane twice today and Loki was showing interest in Tony.

Thor needed to think how the one thing he had changed affected the other events that had happened in the previous timeline. He knew that soon enough his knowledge might fall short as events of this timeline took place more and more differently than the previous one. Still he needed to sort some things out. Better to be prepared than be blindsided. Thor made and unmade several plans, not noticing as time passed and his eyes began to droop. Slowly his planning shifted from the timelines to Loki and the many many things Thor wanted to show him and teach him. As Loki quietly stepped into their room and slipped in bed beside Thor, his mind forgot all about the timelines and impact of small changes and he slowly drifted to sleep, his mind calmed by the presence of the one person for whom he was willing to move time and space.

TBC.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thor totally saw Ikol in the display at the pet store and was reminded of Loki so of course he had to buy him. Also everyone totally thinks Loki and Thor are a couple.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> Here is the next one.  
> The name of the book mentioned in this chapter is completely made up. I could not use the original name (copyright) But there is actually a book with similar name on Amazon and the bit about its author is actually true.
> 
> Thank you so much again for all the lovely comments and kudos :)

Morning found Loki waking up because he was too warm. He opened his eyes blearily and squinted, frowning when he realized Thor was wrapped around him like a snake. A giant overtly warm snake. Loki squirmed trying to get out from under the oaf. Ikol mewled from the foot of the bed where he'd curled up sometime in the night. Loki huffed not able to break free of Thor. Oaf was snoring away and here Loki was feeling like he'd sat under the sun an hour too long. Thor radiated heat like a furnace and the place they were in was a desert. It was fine in the night when the desert got cold but now with the morning sun blazing in despite the curtains being drawn the heat was too much for Loki. He had never been fond of warm weather.

_'That should have tipped me off'_ The thought came to Loki unbidden. It sobered him and he momentarily stopped struggling. His eyes wandered over Thor's frame. Like most Aesir men Thor had too many muscles and long golden hair. Loki had always been slight in frame. No matter how much he ate or trained he couldn't bulk up like Thor. His skin was smooth like porcelain where Thor's had tiny hairs on it. Thor always radiated warmth. But Loki's touch had always been cold. What a fool he was. The differences were so startlingly obvious. He should have known. He _should_ have known.

Loki was lost in thoughts and didn't notice Thor had woken till the oaf was patting one giant paw of a hand over his face. "Shh...no thinking...too early." Thor mumbled snuggling closer.

Loki looked at the clock on the wall. It read 9 o' clock. He snorted. Too early his ass. He shoved at Thor again. "It's nine in the morning you oaf. Get off me!"

Thor mumbled something and didn't move one inch. Ikol seeing Loki was trapped helpfully dug his teeth in Thor's foot. Thor yelped more out of surprise than actual injury. He finally moved off of Loki and sat up pouting at the kitten.

Loki sat up stretching and picked Ikol up, stroking his fur. "Thank you darling. That was splendid."

"Hey! Don't encourage this behavior. He bit me. I could have been hurt" Thor protested

Loki ignored Thor looking at Ikol who mewled at him. "Look Ikol papa is complaining about being hurt and yet two seconds ago he was squeezing the life out of me. You know what we call that? Hypocrisy. You must be hungry. Do you want milk?"

Ikol squirmed, mewling happily at the mention of milk. Thor spluttered behind Loki but was thoroughly ignored. Loki took Ikol to the kitchen and set him down beside his bowl. He took milk out from the refrigerator and poured some for Ikol and for himself. The cold milk soothed him. He was still too warm. Thor slunk into the kitchen after some time.

"You really shouldn't encourage that behavior. He might bite someone else. Someone human who would actually get hurt." Thor pointed out.

Loki shrugged. "Ikol is still a baby. He'll grow out of it. I am taking a bath. It's too bloody warm in here."

Loki went to the bath and filled the tub with cold water, then stripped and stepped into the tub. He sighed in relief. The cold water was like a balm to him. He soaked in the tub until the water went lukewarm and his skin looked like a prune. Finally he had to get out of the tub which Loki did very reluctantly. He dried himself with a towel and brushed his teeth and dressed himself with a wave of his hands.

When he went back to the kitchen Thor was attempting to teach Ikol the difference between biting him and other people. He was kneeling on the floor in front of the kitten who looked utterly disinterested. "Ok Ikol. Look this is me." Thor held up a potato in front of Ikol. "And this is a normal person." He procured a tomato in the other hand. "Now papa is not like a normal person. He is tough. You can't hurt him with your tiny teeth." Thor demonstrated by inserting a thin tiny stick into the potato. It had difficulty going in obviously. Thor continued his lesson. "But normal people can get hurt. Like this see?" Thor inserted another thin tiny stick into the tomato. It went in easily. "You can't bite other people. Ok? They will get hurt. Which means they'll take you away. And we don't want that do we? You understand what I am saying don't you?"

Ikol hissed at Thor and then walked over to Loki weaving between his legs. Thor pouted again. "This isn't fair. He never listens to me."

Loki rolled his eyes, picking Ikol up. "He's been here only one night Thor. Just you wait for a year. He will become adept at ignoring you completely. Just like me!" Loki said cheerfully.

Thor gave up setting the tomato and potato back on the counter. Loki almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He sat at the dining table. "What's for breakfast? Please tell me you didn't spend all this time trying to give moral lessons to Ikol."

Thor set a plate of some kind of sandwich in front of him, along with some juice and fruit. "Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Oh and fruit and juice. We also have cereal if you want."

Loki looked at the sandwich curiously. Thor had cut the corners off the bread like he preferred and cut the sandwich into quarter triangles. Loki picked one up and bit into it delicately. He perked up. It was sweet and just a bit buttery. Loki loved it. He ate all the tiny sandwiches and then stole some from Thor's plate. He liked Midgardian food. There was so much variety.

"Where'd you get the idea for this?" Loki asked.

"Oh it was Tony's go to lunch every time Jarvis reminded him he'd forgotten to eat. I picked it up..." Thor stopped speaking abruptly, then stuttered. "Uh...I mean...Tony...at the furniture shop...he also works at the furniture shop. I met him yesterday and he was saying...how he always forgets lunch and makes these...uh sandwiches."

Loki squinted at Thor. "Alright...and who is Jarvis?"

Thor for some reason looked nervous. "Uh...jarvis? Is that what I said? I meant uh...Travis! Yes...uh...Travis reminds...uh Tony to eat lunch..."

Loki frowned. Thor was hiding something. He was terrible at lying and right now he was lying. Through his teeth. Loki didn't like it. But Thor was never going to admit anything to him so he let it go. For now. He'd pry it out of Thor eventually. "Fine. Well then thank Tony for me. These are delicious. When did you say you were supposed to be there for work?"

"At eleven. We still have...half an hour." Thor said looking at the clock. "I need clothes. Something like yesterday? I think I'll just buy some after work so you don't have to keep conjuring them up. What are you going to do?"

Loki thought about it. "I think I'll go to the library again. Let me check how to book an airplane and see if I can find more information. I think we covered all major laws but we need to know about the finer points if we have to live here for a long time."

Thor nodded. "Alright. Furniture shop is just down the road from the library. See you at the diner for lunch? What about Ikol?"

Loki looked up from his glass of orange juice. "What do you mean what about Ikol? Ikol will stay with me."

Thor sighed. "Loki I am pretty sure human libraries, like Asgardian libraries don't allow pets. You can't take Ikol with you and it's too risky to take him with me. I'll be doing wood work and Ikol might hurt himself on the tools. Maybe we should drop him off with Isabel."

Loki held Ikol to his chest. "Absolutely not. I am not leaving Ikol in someone else's hands. I'll just borrow the books I need from the library and come back. It will hardly take fifteen minutes. Ikol will be fine till then. Won't you Ikol?"

Ikol mewled in response. Thor didn't look convinced but then nodded. "Fine. I have to get ready or I'll be late. Can you handle..."

Thor trailed off when Loki waved one hand clearing the table and cleaning all dishes and glasses. Thor shook his head fondly and disappeared in the bedroom. "Don't worry Ikol. Mama knows all sorts of tricks. We'll go to the library and stay there till lunch. Papa doesn't have to know about it." Loki whispered conspiratorially.

Thor came out dressed in a simple tunic and trousers. Loki waved a hand transforming it into clothes similar to what Thor had been wearing yesterday. Only today his t-shirt was a deep blue. Thor smiled at Loki. "Thanks Lo. I'll see you at lunch. Don't turn any people into frogs. Please."

Thor ruffled Loki's hair and pat Ikol's head. Both of them looked at him with murder in their eyes. Thor ignored it with practiced ease of a thousand years and left. Loki pouted fixing his hair. Oaf. Well at least now they were alone. Despite the heat, Loki conjured a jacket and stuffed Ikol in it, closing it up.

"Alright Ikol. I am going to do a spell to hide you. Then once we are at the library, I'll let you out. Come on let's go." Loki weaved a spell hiding Ikol from all sight and headed out making sure to lock their apartment.

He hurried to the library and smiled at the librarian asking her where the books on law were. She pointed the aisle out to Loki and he thanked her. He was passing by through the other aisles when his eyes fell on a book _'The Jotun Book: A History of the Giants'_ the title read. Loki was frozen to the spot. A book on Jotun. Here on Midgard.

He picked the book up and flipped it this way and that. It was apparently written by a King of a small kingdom who actually worshipped the giants. That could not be right. All the stories Loki had ever heard said that giants were feared across the realms especially by the mortals who were oft defenseless against them. Loki sat down on the floor with the book, letting Ikol out. The kitten was still invisible to all eyes except Loki. Ikol mewled at Loki once, then wandered off.

Loki's attention was too occupied by the book to notice. He flipped through the pages of the book. His eyes going wide at it's contents. Apparently the book aimed at depicting the giants in a good light. There was no talk of the Jotun being monstrous beings or things that scared children at night. Instead the author was of the firm belief that the Jotun and giants in general had a gift. A gift to be one with the realms around them. Their ways were foreign to the Aesir which had led to conflicts but on their own there was nothing wrong with them. They were not evil only painted as such by their counterparts who held more power in the realms.

Loki sat there in one corner of a realm most of his...Thor's people considered useless and found reassurance he didn't even know he had needed. He blinked, his vision a bit blurry. Something must have gone in his eye.

"Oh hey! Fancy seeing you here again" A voice interrupted Loki's train of thought.

It was Jane Foster. Again. Loki wondered how the woman kept finding him. He was supposed to be a shapeshifter adept at blending in. Jane sat down in front of Loki, apparently inviting herself. She had a bunch of papers in her hand.

"Ok. So. You were super rude last time. And like you should totally apologize for that. _But_ you were right. I was looking at the charts all wrong. So thanks for correcting me I guess. Still need to apologize though. And maybe help me with these too?" Jane rambled.

Loki squinted at her trying to understand whether the woman was scolding him or complementing him or asking for his help. Then he realized Ikol was missing. Oops. Jane waved a hand in front of Loki's face. "Hello. Earth to Luke. Are you listening?"

In an attempt to get Jane to back off Loki blurted the first thing that came to his mind. "My kitten is lost."

Jane looked at him confused. "Huh? Oh. I didn't know you had kitten. Why are you at the library then? You should go report it or something. Are you here to get photocopies of missing posters? I can help with that"

"No I mean. I brought him here and now I can't find him." Loki explained.

Jane gasped. "You're not supposed to bring pets into the library! Mrs. Goodman is so going to ban us"

"Shh." Loki shushed her. "Not so loudly. We can still salvage this. All we have to do is find Ikol. He can't have gone far."

"Who couldn't have gone where?" Another voice asked from behind Loki.

He turned his head and saw another woman, a bit younger than Jane, wearing the usual Midgardian clothes with a cap, holding some kind of device. He was about to tell her to mind her own damn business when Jane spoke up. "Darcy! We have an emergency. Luke's kitten wandered off into the library somewhere. We have to find it before Mrs. Goodman."

The woman whose name was apparently Darcy gasped much like Jane had. "You're not supposed to bring pets into the library! It says so over there on that giant ass board."

Darcy pointed to a huge board that said _'NO PETS ALLOWED'_ Loki pouted at it. "Well what was I supposed to do? Leave my poor baby all alone in the apartment?"

"Or you could have left him at the pet daycare we have in town." Darcy replied dryly.

"We have a pet daycare?" Jane asked at the same time as Loki asked "What is a pet daycare?"

"Ok first, Jane you've lived in this town for a whole fucking year, shame on you for not knowing we have a pet daycare. See this right here is proof you need to get out more. And second, pet daycare is like a place where you can drop your pets off while you're at work or outside and people will take care of them for you. It's good. It helps the pets socialize with other pets." Darcy explained.

"Well that's great but it doesn't solve the immediate problem. What does Ikol look like?" Jane asked.

"He's black with yellow eyes and he's tiny. Like this big." Loki held his hands two feet apart to demonstrate. "He's just a baby." Loki's voice wobbled

"Damn. I am not built to resist this. We gotta find tiny devil cat before pretty eyes over here starts crying. Where'd you last see him?" Darcy asked.

"Well I hid him in my jacket and then I was going to the aisle with the books on law but my eyes fell on this book. So I sat down here to read it and Ikol was fussing so I let him out. I think he wandered in that direction." Loki pointed in front of him.

"Ok. So if I was a tiny little cat where would I go...?" Darcy wondered.

"To get milk?" Loki suggested.

"To poop." Jane stated.

"Or to curl up in some corner and nap like a normal cat." Darcy pointed out. "Come on. I think I know where the tiny devil ran off to."

Darcy led Loki and Jane to a secluded part of the library. Loki spotted Ikol sitting near a window where sun was streaming in, napping like Darcy had suggested. Darcy and Jane were looking around obviously not able to see Ikol, courtesy of Loki's spell. He moved his fingers, letting the spell drop, then exclaimed excited. "There he is."

Darcy and Jane looked where Loki was pointing and looked relieved. "Well that was easy. Now to get out of the library before Mrs. Goodman spots us." Jane huffed.

"I'll distract her. You two sneak Ikol out." Darcy offered.

Loki nodded, picking Ikol up who momentarily fussed before settling again. Darcy went over to Mrs. Goodman trying to involve her in a conversation about something called an ipod. Loki shrugged. It worked. That was all that mattered. He hid Ikol under his jacket and him and Jane tip toed out of the library.

Outside Jane smacked her forehead. "Shit. I forgot all my papers inside. You wait here. I'll be right out."

"Wait!" Loki called out. "Can you borrow a book on my behalf?"

Jane frowned. "Why can't you borrow it on your own?"

Loki held Ikol up. "I can't leave him on the roadside. Unless you're offering to hold him"

The glare Ikol gave Jane seemed to put her off. "Uh...no thanks. I don't want a trip to the doctor's. Fine. What book do you want?"

Loki smiled at Jane. "It must be there beside your papers. I was reading it remember?"

"Oh yeah. Jotun...something. Ok. I'll check it out on my card. But you have to return it in a month. I better not have to pay fine because of you." Jane insisted.

"I promise to return the book in a month." Loki replied. Jane shrugged then went to get her papers and Loki's book

Darcy came out then and stood beside Loki. "Darcy Lewis." She held her hand out for Loki to shake.

"Luke Borson." Loki said shaking her hand. "Are you a friend of Jane's?"

Darcy nodded. "Sort of. I'm her intern. But we're relaxed on the professional front. I'm not into stars and shit. I'm actually pursuing political science but Jane's was the only internship left and I need it to build my score. So... You know she's been rambling about you non stop since yesterday"

"Really?" Loki asked surprised. He would have thought Jane would have talked of Thor more.

Darcy perked up. "Oh yeah. I mean at first she was speaking about the guy with you..Don? I think? But then after she ran into you at the library, it was all 'Luke is so brilliant' and 'He saw the mistake in a second when I couldn't see it for months' and 'I bet he's a scientist' and she even tried to look you up on the internet. Not stalking you or anything creepy like that. But it was like Jane's genius radar went off"

"Genius radar?" Loki was so confused

"Yeah. You know like a painter knows it when they see another painter and a writer knows another writer. So Jane's kind of a genius and she sensed you're a genius too you know?" Darcy explained.

Jane came out with Loki's book shoving it at him. "Here. Don't bend the pages and don't make marks on it or write notes on the side and return it in a month. Come on Darcy, I think I'll just brainstorm over these with Erik." Jane sounded dejected.

Loki bit his lip. The woman did help him find Ikol and borrowed a book for him. All she wanted was for Loki to point out some stars. He could do that. "Uh. You know I could maybe take a look at the star charts again. If it's still an offer...?"

Jane perked up immediately. "Really? Oh thank you so much Luke!" Loki did not expect the hug he suddenly found himself in. Jane let go before he could comprehend it. "I have a lab and so many more pictures from different angles and notes and..."

"Slow down Janey. You're rambling again. Let Luke get a word in." Darcy calmed her down.

"Sorry." Jane smiled sheepishly. "I just get a little excited sometimes. Come on. Get in. My lab's across town."

Jane pointed to her car. Loki had to meet Thor for lunch. But there was still time right? He climbed in the car on the back seat and Darcy and Jane climbed in the front. Jane drove them to her lab. It was a circular building that looked abandoned, save for the machines and devices Loki could see set up. A middle aged man was fixing something.

Jane and Darcy climbed out and Loki followed them. Ikol fussing a bit in his hands. "Erik. Erik! Look who I brought. It's Luke. Remember? That guy I told you I ran into at the library? He's here to look at some more of the charts." Jane said excitedly.

The middle aged man, Erik apparently frowned. "Jane are you sure about this?"

Jane lost her momentum a bit. "We talked about this Erik. I just want him to look at some pictures. It's no big deal. Come on Luke, over here."

Loki sat down at a table as Jane directed, setting Ikol on the floor. He quietly put a tracking spell on Ikol so he wouldn't get lost this time. Jane brought out several pictures for Loki to look at. They were of more constellations. This time from the other realms. Loki recognized them all easily.

Erik picked up the book Jane had borrowed for Loki. "Jotun huh? Since when are you interested in frost giants Jane?"

"Oh it's not for me. It's Luke's. He wanted to read it. Moving on. Can you help me with this constellation Luke? I can't help but feel I'm looking at it wrong but I can't tell how." Jane asked.

Loki nodded. "Over here. This star is also supposed to be a part of this constellation. And that one over there is from another constellation." Loki pointed out.

Jane corrected her marks happily and pulled out another picture. Even Erik sat down looking at Loki with interest. They went through several pictures. Loki despite himself enjoyed their company. No one mocked him or doubted him or tried to belittle him. He hadn't felt such camaraderie in centuries. He completely lost track of time until Ikol mewled, scratching his trousers trying to get his attention.

Darcy picked him up. "Oh you poor baby. Are you hungry? Let's get you some milk. We don't have cat food. It is way past lunch time anyway."

Loki blinked. "Wait. Lunch? What time is it?"

"It's three. So it's a bit late for lunch. I guess we lost track of time." Jane admitted.

Loki put a hand over his mouth in surprise. He scrambled off his chair, taking Ikol from Darcy and picking his book up. "Oh no! I promised Don I'd have lunch with him at the diner. He must be waiting for me"

Jane chased after Loki. "Wait! I'll drop you off. It'll be faster."

Loki nodded, getting in Jane's car again. Jane drove him to the diner and Loki got out before she even parked the car completely. He went into the diner, looking around. Thor was sitting in one corner looking sad. Isabel came over to him.

"There you are Luke. Don came around one thirty looking for you. He waited an hour but you didn't turn up. He even checked the apartment and the library. But you weren't there. He's been sitting there by the window ever since. He didn't even eat anything." Isabel explained.

"Well that's not good. Poor guy probably thinks Luke ditched him. We got caught up in research and lost track of time." Jane piped up from beside Loki.

Isabel looked at Loki sympathetically. "How about I get a few burgers and fries for you? You go talk to Don. Make it up to him."

Loki nodded. "Yes please. And some pie too. The apple one. Don likes it."

Isabel nodded and went to get the food. Jane turned to Loki. "How about I take care of Ikol while you have lunch with Don? Is that ok Ikol? We're friends now right?"

Ikol looked apprehensive but went into Jane's arms when Loki reassured him. Jane smiled at the kitten.

Loki hurried over to the window seat. Thor looked up, his expression surprised. "Loki? Where were you? I looked everywhere. You weren't at the library or the apartment and Ikol was also missing. I thought....I thought maybe you... left"

Loki shuffled on his feet. "Left where?"

Thor looked at the table. "I don't know..."

There it was again. Vulnerability. Like Loki was going to disappear right in front of Thor's eyes. Thor hunched in on himself and looked terribly sad. Loki bit his lip. He'd expected anger not...despair. He sat down.

"I was at the library and I ran into Jane there. She wanted help with some star charts. She took me to her lab. I took Ikol with me because I couldn't leave him alone. We lost track of time. I came as soon as I realized how late it had gotten." Loki hurried to explain. He put one hand over Thor's. "I wouldn't just leave you here without saying anything Thor. You know that don't you?"

Whatever Thor was going to say was cut off as Isabel came with their food. "Here you go boys. Burgers and fries. Milkshake for you Luke and coffee for you Don. And here's your pie. Enjoy."

Thor frowned at the food. "I was supposed to go back to work after lunch. It's so late.."

"I'm sorry!" Loki blurted a bit too loud. He hunched down in his seat. "I'm sorry. It was just...Jane and Darcy and Erik were so interested in the star charts and they listened to me. Without doubting or questioning or judging. I just..."

Thor shook his head, playing with Loki's fingers. "I overreacted. I know you would not just leave like that. I should have looked around more or just gone back to work. You were helping Jane? And Darcy and Erik? Who are they?"

Loki perked up. "Darcy is Jane's intern. I think that means apprentice. At least it sounded like that from the way she described her work. Erik is Jane's senior. He is helping her with her research. They have a laboratory across town. It's really just a huge empty building but all their devices and machines are there. And it's amazing Thor! They have pictures of constellations from all the realms. It's amazing. I was helping them understand how the star charts worked and..."

Thor chuckled. "Well I see now. No wonder you lost track of time. You have new friends now. I guess I'll just sit in this corner with Ikol...my lone companion..."

Loki flushed. "Friends?"

"Well of course. Duh." Jane piped up suddenly. Loki looked up to see her standing beside their table. Ikol mewled trying to jump out of her arms. "Sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but Ikol really wanted to come over here. But I agree with Don you know. We helped rescue Ikol from the library and you helped us with star charts. This is totally an epic story of us becoming friends."

Loki froze halfway in the motion of taking Ikol from Jane. Thor looked at him with a look that could only be described as scolding. "Rescued Ikol from the library huh? I see..."

Jane realized she'd said something she was not supposed to and tried to salvage the situation. "Uh....Library? Is that what I said? I meant uh..." Jane floundered looking for a name similar to library then gave up. "Ok I am not good at this. But! Luke regrets it right? He's not going to take Ikol into the library. Ever again right?"

Loki nodded vigorously. "Yes. Yes. Never again."

"See? He totally learned his lesson and...oh look! Darcy is calling me. Gotta go! See you later Luke!" Jane made her escape.

Loki cursed under his breath. Ikol mewled innocently. Thor pointed his fork at him. "Oh no don't give me that look. You were supposed to stay at home and mama was supposed to bring the books to you. Don't act like you had no hand in this. You are grounded. No more cuddles before bed for a week."

For once Ikol looked subdued. Loki looked at Thor horrified. "You can't! It was all my fault I hid Ikol in my jacket and took him to the library. Don't punish him for it!"

"Oh don't worry you're getting punished too. I'll buy you one those devices humans use to communicate. Cellphone. Yeah that's it. I am buying you a cellphone and I'll call you whenever I feel like it to check on you. You better be where you say you are. There will be surprise visits!" Thor insisted.

Loki pouted, crossing his arms. "Not fair."

"That's what you get for worrying me so much. Now come on eat up. I do have to get back to work." Thor said shoving some fries in his mouth.

Loki still felt guilty about worrying Thor so he let it go. They ate their food chatting away. Loki excitedly telling Thor more about his time with Jane and listening to Thor explain how he was working on making a custom bar for one of the local residents. Ikol mewled from time to time, giving his own opinion. Isabel brought some milk for him in a saucer and the kitten lapped at it happily. After lunch, Thor again ruffled Loki's hair and pat Ikol before leaving, promising to be back around dinner with Loki's punishment cellphone.

Loki paid for their lunch despite Isabel's protests and took Ikol and his book to their apartment. He spent the rest of the afternoon reading the book trying very hard not to be affected when it described the Jotun as a quiet race of giants who loved art and sedir. There was also a drawing of a Jotun pointing out what the various marks on the Jotun's body meant.

Loki bit his lip. He looked around. Thor wouldn't be back for a while and Ikol was sleeping in his bed. Loki stripped off his jacket and t-shirt and concentrated, looking for the core of ice he could now feel. Slowly his skin turned blue, marks appearing on his body much like the drawing. Loki memorized them. The marks on the backs of his hand were claws, the one across his ribs were called wings. The ones on his clavicle and across his shoulders were called mantle.

Loki brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, resting his head on his knees. This felt good. Letting go of the Aesir form and being in his Jotun skin. Loki wasn't sure how to feel about that. He wished he had someone who could teach him about the Jotun. Properly. He didn't even know his own body. What if the book was wrong? How was Loki to know? Anger bubbled up in Loki's chest again. If only Odin had been honest from the very beginning. And his mo-Frigga. Loki wiped the tears from his eyes. Odin lying he could bear but....mo-Frigga.

Loki picked the book up and threw it across the room in frustration. Ikol woke up startled by the noise. Loki gripped his hair tightly and pulled. Damnit! Damnit all to hel! The door of the apartment turned and Thor stepped in a smile on his face which faded when he saw Loki on the floor, gripping his hair, trying to tear them off.

"Loki? What happened?" Thor knelt beside Loki.

Loki looked at Thor. He was the only one who hadn't lied. He was the only one Loki could trust. Loki wrapped his arms around Thor and sobbed in his chest. "I don't know anything Thor." He wailed. "This form. I was born in this form but I don't know anything about it. Why? Why did they lie to me? Why didn't they teach me? What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go? How do I know what to do?"

Thor held Loki. "We'll figure it out..."

"How?" Loki demanded. "How are we going to figure this out?"

"I don't know yet." Thor admitted. "But we'll find a way. We always do. There is an answer somewhere. We'll march into Jotunheim to find it if we have to. We can do this Loki."

Loki leaned his head against Thor's shoulder. "I just...I feel so frustrated. I don't like being kept in the dark. They were just going to let me live in the lie and it makes me so angry. I..."

Thor sighed. "I know. It _is_ frustrating. You spend your life believing something. You build your morals around it. You put your faith in it. It is the foundation of your very being and then you wake up one day and you look up and you see the mural on the wall and you realize it was all lie. Everything. The foundation you built your life around was a complete and utter lie and it's so _hard_. It's so hard to look past it. All the good memories feel tainted by that one damn lie. And suddenly you're questioning every word, every syllable and wondering if it was ever real to begin with and...but we can't let this bring us down Loki. We'll build our life back up and this time. This time it will be _our_ foundation. Our rules not theirs. We make our own fate. We decide what we are and what we want to be. Yes?"

Loki let Thor's words strengthen him. "Yes. You're right. We are grown men. We'll decide who we want to be. Not them."

Ikol mewled from the corner, still a bit scared. Loki held out a hand towards him. "Oh my poor baby. I'm sorry. Mama had a little breakdown. Come here. Come to me."

Ikol hesitated but then came over to Loki, licking a mark on his hand curiously. Thor scratched behind his ears, making Ikol purr happily. Loki let his Aesir form wash over him and was dressed again. Thor picked the bags he'd dropped by the door in his hurry to get to Loki and Loki picked up his book and set about making dinner, smiling at Thor when he explained how the cellphones he had bought worked. They ate dinner and sat by the giant window talking till midnight. Thor broke down halfway and let Ikol cuddle against his chest all he wanted. Later they slipped into bed Thor on the left one arm around Loki and Ikol curled up at their feet. One small happy family.

Unknown to Loki and Thor on Asgard things were nowhere as peaceful or happy. Sif paced in the hut of a witch at the edge of the city. "Well? What's taking so long?"

The witch, Mara sighed. "His Grace, Prince Loki is the most talented mage in all of Asgard, nay, the Nine Realms. Breaking past his shields requires patience and finesse. One wrong move and I will be caught or worse I will hurt myself or Prince Loki."

"We just want a general idea of which realm he is in. Why don't you try looking for Thor instead?" Volstagg suggested.

Mara shook her head. "I tried. Prince Loki has hidden himself and Prince Thor. I am nowhere near as powerful as him. It will take _time._ "

"We don't have time" Sif yelled. "It's been two whole days. Thor's coronation is drawing near. We have to find him. _Now._ Aren't your tricks any good?"

Mara was not impressed with Sif's behavior. No matter the coin they were paying her. This kind of disrespect was too much. "My sedir is not a _trick._ I have spent decades honing my craft. It no less than the skill you hold for the sword. And the last I heard, King Odin announced the coronation was to be delayed. The way I see it we do have time. You know what? Take your coin. I don't want it. Find some other target for your frustrations"

Fandral hurried to salvage the situation. They had been rejected by a dozen mages already. "No. No. Please. We need your help. Sif is just worried and it is coming out the wrong way. We meant no disrespect."

Sif went to protest but Hogun held her arm and shook his head. Mara looked at Fandral with narrowed eyes. "I need time. I cannot perform such complicated spells in a hurry. I risk hurting not only myself but also Prince Loki. You said you wished to find him because you fear his life is in danger. What good will it do if we end up killing him because we were impatient?"

Fandral held his hands up in surrender. "You are right. We are sorry. We are just not that experienced in matters of sedir. How about we leave you to it and come back for an update every night?"

Mara nodded. "Fine. But don't yell at me if the progress is slow. Like I said this is delicate work."

Fandral nodded. "Of course. Of course. Take your time. We just want solid results. We'll leave you to it."

Fandral motioned to Volstagg and Hogun and they got up, pulling a glaring Sif along. Outside Fandral sagged against his horse. "That was close. We really don't have anyone else left to go to. We need Mara's help."

Sif huffed. "Shame. She is not all that good."

"What other choice do we have Sif? The mages respect Loki too much. He has brainwashed them. They think he is the epitome of royalty. It is a miracle even Mara agreed to help us." Hogun pointed out.

Volstagg shook his head in dismay. "If Thor had been here we would have warned him to keep an eye on the mages. I sense revolt in their hearts. They probably wish to see Loki on the throne."

Sif snorted. "As if that would ever happen. No respectable warrior would ever bow to a _mage_. No one would have accepted Loki on the throne."

"All that is fine. But for now we're stuck right where we began. Should we go check out Vanaheim? Or Alfheim? They have mages too right? Maybe we can find one better than Mara to help us there." Fandral suggested.

Volstagg shook his head. "No. No. We need to stay put here. In case Thor manages to get free of Loki and comes back. If we leave we might miss something important."

"Alright. Then what now?" Hogun asked.

"Well I say we go to the inn and drink ale and eat, then come back here tomorrow to see if Mara has anything useful for us." Sif suggested.

With nothing better to do, the others agreed with her and they all went about as usual. Sif though made note of every person who spoke even slightly in Loki's favor. Traitors. They were all traitors and she was going to make sure they paid for it. She was going to make an example of Loki that the Nine Realms would remember forever.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The revelation of being Jotun is still too fresh in Loki's mind. So whenever he's left with his own thoughts, he circles back to it naturally.   
> Thor is so going to regret the decision to buy Loki a cellphone.  
> Sif is just setting herself up for a horrific death.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for supporting this fic. I am truly overwhelmed 😊
> 
> As apology for not updating last week. I am doing a double update this week.

Loki woke up in the morning too warm. Again. He rolled his eyes. It was pretty much par for the course these days. Thor had gotten them an air conditioner but it did little to help Loki. Especially when the oaf always ended up wrapped around him. Loki sighed, expertly maneuvering out from under Thor. In the past week on Midgard he'd acquired several new skills. Getting up without waking Thor was one of them.

He was about to leave the bed when one warm hand engulfed his. "Don't go. Stay a bit longer.." Thor's voice was rough from sleep and muffled by the pillow but it still made Loki flush.

The why escaped Loki. It was all this insane heat. Clearly it was affecting his cognitive abilities. Thankfully Ikol mewled giving Loki the excuse he needed. "I have to feed Ikol. It's time to be up anyways. I promised Jane I'd be at her lab early today."

Thor pouted but at least he let go of Loki's hand. Loki decided he needed an extra cold bath today. He made sure Ikol had food in his bowl, then got all the ice from the freezer and dumped it in the tub and set the tap to cold water. Even the coldest place on Midgard could not hold a candle to Jotunheim so the water was still not cold enough for Loki but it was the best he could do.

Loki made sure the bathroom door was locked and shifted to his Jotun form. He sighed in the relief. Much better. After his conversation with Thor, Loki had admitted to himself that continuing to be in the dark about his own body was not going to get him anywhere. He'd been exploring, within limits. He still held no love for the Jotun form. But Thor seemed fascinated by it and that gave Loki confidence and maybe deep down also soothed certain fears that had popped up.

He'd discovered that his Jotun form had both male and female parts. That had been a surprise but then again for Loki gender was a fickle thing. It changed as per his moods, so it wasn't that much of a big deal. It did take some getting used to and Loki had stuttered over dinner one night and told Thor about it. Thor had reacted as benignly as he had when he'd discovered Loki in his female form six centuries ago. That is to say he made sure Loki was fine with it then said it didn't change anything and continued on with dinner. It was times like these Loki had trouble understanding his feelings towards Thor. One might even say he became overwhelmed.

Loki scoffed. One week and the oaf had managed to turn him into a sap. Better plant some booby traps for Thor. He had a reputation to keep up. Loki stayed in the bath till he felt a little cooled down from the heat then got out. He switched between a few attires before picking one and decided to shake Thor awake before setting up breakfast.

Thor was sprawled to cover the entire bed like the oaf he was. Loki shook his shoulder. "Thor. Thor. Wake up. I'm making breakfast. You have to get ready for work. Come on."

Thor said something muffled by the pillow. Loki frowned. "I don't speak oaf. Get up. I have to get to Jane's lab. Come. On. Since when did I become the early riser? Ugh. This does not suit me at all."

Thor turned his head and looked at Loki sleepily. "Great then get back in bed. We can take the day off."

Loki rolled his eyes. "I just took a cold bath to escape this terrible heat. I'm not getting in bed with you. It's like sleeping next to a fireplace. Get up or I'll make you get up."

Thor sprawled more on the bed. "I'd like to see you try brat."

Well how could Loki have refused a challenge like that? He hunched and jumped on the bed hoping to surprise Thor but Thor moved faster than Loki had expected and instead of dislodging Thor from the bed he found himself pinned underneath Thor. Loki bared his teeth and shoved one knee in Thor's stomach. Thor grunted but did not budge, instead spreading his legs and locking Loki's between them. Loki bucked trying to dislodge Thor again but Thor's hold was too strong.

Thor leaned in his face, smiling. "You were saying?"

Loki huffed, wriggling trying to get out from under the oaf. He belatedly realized how close Thor was. It wasn't unpleasant. Not at all. Thor was looking at him fondly and the weight of his body on top of Loki felt...nice. Loki felt a strange fluttering sensation in his stomach. What was wrong with him? He stopped struggling letting his limbs go slack. "Fine you win. Now get off me. You're too warm." He complained.

Thor pouted. "But I didn't even get a reward! I beat you. I feel like it deserves some prize"

The thoughts that popped up at Thor's suggestion were firmly in the territory of inappropriate. "How about you either get off or I'll fucking stab you. How's that for reward?" Loki said half panicked by his own train of thought, a bit more harshly than he'd meant to but it did the trick.

Thor rolled his eyes getting off of Loki. "You're no fun. Aren't you supposed to be the God of Mischief? Why does it feel like I'm the fun one around here?"

Loki didn't bother retorting properly too busy trying to make an escape. "I _am_ the God of Mischief. There's difference between fun and annoying. You are annoying and late. If you're not at the breakfast table in fifteen minutes I'll leave you here alone."

Thor gasped in faux horror. "No. Please don't leave alone in this big, empty house. Who's going to cook food for me if you leave?"

Just like that all the confusing thoughts got buried in annoyance. "Is that all you think I'm good for? Cooking your food? Well fine then. I'm leaving! And I'm taking Ikol with me! You live here with your stupid muscles and your tasteless pop tarts" Loki _did not_ stomp his feet or huff or pout while making his way to the door.

Thor's arms engulfed him from behind preventing him from leaving. Thor hooked his chin over Loki's shoulder. "Don't feel bad, dear. I was just jesting. Of course the good food is not the only reason I like you." Thor's voice was warm.

And now the strange fluttery feeling was back. Loki bit his lip. "No...?"

Thor shook his head. "No. Of course not. You're also very good at keeping the house clean."

Thor danced out of the way and locked himself in the bathroom before Loki could stick the dagger in his side. "Asshole!" Loki shouted at the door, dagger in hand.

He crossed his arms and pouted for two full minutes, then fixed the sheets on the bed. The corners sticking out like that was annoying. It was for selfish reasons that he was fixing them. Really it was. After standing around for another minute Loki realized he was just arguing with himself. Which made him sound like a crazy person. So he went to the kitchen. Ikol mewled from the sofa. Oh right. It was eight which meant it was time for cartoons. Ikol was terribly fond of Tom and Jerry.

Loki scratched behind Ikol's ear and turned on the television to Tom and Jerry. Ikol mewled happily. Loki set about making breakfast. Thor had moved on to make a kitchen for one of the locals. He would be gone till night. Loki packed some sandwiches for him just in case he was not able to take time out for lunch with him at the diner. Otherwise the oaf would probably eat junk like pop tarts and think he was going to be fine. Idiot.

Loki was flipping a pancake when Thor came out from the bedroom, dressed for work. He wrapped an arm around Loki's waist and reached into the cabinet above the stove to get his mug. Loki's pancake almost missed the pan. Thor chuckled. "What's with you today? Got off the wrong end of the bed?"

Loki frowned. "No. I got out the right side because that is where I sleep."

Thor shook his head. "No Lo. It's a saying. It means you seem a bit off kilter today. Is it the heat?"

Thor let go of Loki and started the coffee maker. Loki took his pancake out on a plate carefully. "I think so. I put ice in my bath but it was still too warm. Jotun and desert don't mix well apparently. I packed sandwiches for you just in case."

Thor nodded gratefully. "Thanks. I have to make frames for kitchen cabinets and Alex wanted to start on the pantry so I don't think I'll be able to make it to the diner for lunch. Did you ask Darcy about booking plane tickets? Our credit cards are now in working order. We should start packing if we want to make it to New York in time for the opening of the Stark Expo."

Loki hummed in acknowledgment. "Yes I spoke to Darcy. She said she'll help me book tickets today. We will have to take the flight from Albuquerque. That is a few miles away. She helped me look at the flight schedules and there's two flights to New York one in the afternoon at four and another in evening at seven. I think we should take the afternoon one. We'll have to leave in the morning for it though. Albuquerque is three hours away by drive."

Thor poured coffee into his mug. "Sounds good to me. I'll just take the whole day off. Dave says we should have downtime once this kitchen project is done so it's not an issue. He said he'd call me if anything urgent came up. We should be able to stay in New York a week at least. Have you asked Jane if she'll come?"

Loki poured orange juice with some ice for himself and set the pancakes on the table. "She refused. She said she had to work. Darcy was highly disappointed because it means she'll have to stay too. Erik is interested in the Expo but he doesn't like the fanfare so he might go see it later in the year when things have calmed down a bit."

Thor bit into his pancake and almost moaned at the taste. He wasn't lying when he said Loki made good food. "Sounds about right. The couple we're working for said the government is considering confiscating the Iron Man armor from Dr. Stark. Something about a hearing being in the works or something."

Loki snorted. "Oh please. I don't think Dr. Stark is going to give up his armor. No warrior or scholar worth their salt would ever give up their work just like that. From what I have been reading of law a hearing is like a trial where the accused can defend themself. What crime this government is trying to charge Dr. Stark with I don't know. I bet it's just some creepy old men with sticks so far up their asses they can hardly see. They don't understand Dr. Stark so they are trying to control him. Typical."

"Should be an interesting watch though. I heard Dave say it was going to be on tv." Thor added.

Loki chuckled. "Oh I look forward to it then. It will be fun. I'll walk to Jane's lab. The exercise is good for me and Ikol. Now. About Mjolnir."

Thor grunted. "What about Mjolnir?"

Loki frowned. "It's been sitting in the corner of our bedroom for the entire week Thor. I will disguise it for our trip to New York. But....you seem to be avoiding it. I think this is the longest I've seen it just lying around since you started wielding it."

Thor shrugged not looking up from his plate. "Got no use for it here. I mean what am I supposed to smash walls with it now?"

Loki's frown deepened. "Well obviously not. But it is still a very powerful weapon. It seems a bit odd to just have it sitting in one corner. And we haven't sparred in ages. We should camp out in the desert tonight and practice."

The mention of sparring made Thor look up at least. He seemed to be thinking about it. "That's...actually not a bad idea. I wouldn't mind being away from the humans for a while. I have to be so vigilant and careful with my strength. I'd like to let go without having to worry"

Loki nodded. "I know how you feel. The other day we were moving Jane's equipment and I almost made it float. It's hard to do things the normal way when I'm so used to doing them with sedir. Tonight then. Let's leave at midnight when everyone's asleep."

"You got it. Are you done?" Thor asked.

Loki nodded. As apology for calling Loki his maid, Thor did the dishes and made sure the leftovers were properly stored in the fridge. Ikol wandered back to Loki done with his cartoons demanded a cuddle. Thor shut the tv off, muttering about Loki spoiling their child. Loki ignored him per usual. Thor made sure to take his sandwiches and Loki locked the door behind them once they were out. The climbed downstairs together and at the end Thor ruffled Loki's hair and pat Ikol on the head saying goodbye. Loki scowled fixing his hair. Oaf always did that.

Loki decided to say hello to Isabel on his way out. She was baking pies for the day and gave Loki some crisps of leftover dough that she had made for the pie crust. It was something his mother used to do back home as well and Loki felt a sudden rush of homesickness. He shook his head. Queen Frigga was _not_ his mother. She had never been his mother. A voice in the back of Loki's mind said he was lying to himself but he ignored it. He walked through the town, Ikol in his arms watching the people curiously. Loki had acquainted himself fairly well with everyone.

Mrs. Goodman was just opening the town library. Henry who owned the supermarket was monitoring things as new stock was brought in. Sophie from the Salon was just starting her day out as well. Logan's pawn shop was closed. He'd gone on a vacation somewhere. Loki could see Thor inside the furniture shop talking to his peers. At first Loki had thought the town was too small. But he liked it now. It was easy for him to keep an eye on everything.

As he neared Jane's lab, Ikol fussed spotting Darcy who was outside listening to music as usual. Darcy saw Loki and smiled. "Hey Luke. Hello Ikol. Do you want to come to Aunt Darcy? Come on."

Loki let Darcy take Ikol from his hands. "Where are Jane and Erik?"

Darcy pointed inside. "Inside. Jane's equipment picked something up last night and she's real excited about it. She tried explaining it to me but really it just went over my head. She was getting frustrated so I came out here before it blew up."

Loki nodded. He went inside and indeed Jane and Erik were huddled over a bunch of papers spread out on the table. "What are we looking at?" Loki asked curiously.

Jane perked up when she saw him. "Luke. Finally. You won't believe it. You know that equipment I said I left out in the desert?"

Loki nodded. "The one you were hoping would pick up the rainbow phenomena again."

"Yeah that one. Well I was right! It picked up the phenomena again last night. I've been working on this three years now and I think I'm finally getting this. That spot in the desert is clearly some kind of connection point. Its picked up the rainbow phenomena thrice now. I have this theory...I think what we're seeing is some form of space advanced travel. Like a wormhole. You know what this means?" Jane asked excited.

"What does it mean?" Loki asked apprehensively.

"It means there's some technology out there that can _create_ wormholes. And technology doesn't just appear out of thin air. It's built by people...which means..." Jane prompted.

Loki knew what it meant perfectly. After all he was the very thing Jane thought she'd just discovered. Proof that there was life outside of Midgard. Erik spoke up before Loki could think how to respond. "I keep telling Jane it's too far fetched. I mean anomalies are one thing. But alien life? I think what we're seeing is just a comet..."

"A comet that appears and disappears at random times? Whose path seems to change every time?" Jane challenged. "I don't think so Erik. I'm right about this. I can feel it."

"Your hunch is not going to convince the University. We have no solid proof Jane. This is just speculation." Erik argued.

"It does not take much to go from speculation to observation and conclusion. If we set up more elaborate equipment, we can get tangible proof. I know we're running a bit low on resources. But if we just convince the University to invest a little more..." Jane began only to be cut off by Erik.

"The University has funded this for three years based on a randomly behaving anomaly. They're not pumping more cash into this Jane. They've already pumped more than they normally do. At best we can hope to continue receiving what we receive now. We can save up and in a few months we'll have the equipment you need " Erik pointed out.

"Or we could all just try the Stark Expo." Darcy spoke from behind them. "I mean that's the whole point of the Expo right? To get investors? Luke's already headed there we can tag along make it a whole trip. Who knows we might even get funding from Dr. Stark himself."

Jane looked at her with one eyebrow raised. "Stark Industries? You mean the weapon manufacturing company? I told you I'm not going to anything they fund."

Darcy sighed. "Oh come on Jane. Get off your high horse. They're no longer a weapons company. The underhanded deals were all Obadiah Stane. Remember? It was all over the news last year. Even you couldn't have missed it."

"Yeah but the guy dealt under the table for years before he was caught. You know what that tells me? That Stark Industries has some clear loopholes in its policies. I'm not handing my research over to them. Who knows whose hand it will end up in" Jane argued.

"How much does this equipment you need cost?" Loki asked, trying to stop a fight from breaking out.

Jane whirled to face him. "Oh no. I'm not asking you to fund me. You and Don just got settled in from a big move. You have the trip to New York coming up. I can't ask you to fund money into my project. Especially when the results will all go to the University."

Loki shrugged. "You are not asking. I am offering. Believe me, Don works only because he does not want empty time on his hands. He doesn't have to work. We have more than enough. I recently invested some in Isabel's diner and I am planning to make some investments in New York since it has more business. We'll be making more than we need soon enough."

"You invested money in Isabel's diner?" Darcy asked.

Loki nodded. "Yes. She will soon be expanding to Albuquerque. Her niece lives there and wanted to start a diner of her own. So I invested. 10% of any profit made will go to my account. I'll buy part ownership of some small businesses in New York. Help them expand or upgrade their current setup. Might have to bear some loss initially but it's good in the long run."

Loki partly owned several inns and merchant shops across the Nine Realms. It was a good idea since he did not have to rely completely on the allowance he got from the Royal Treasury. It came in handy in times like this when he was separated from Asgard for prolonged period of time. In essence Loki could settle practically anywhere in Asgard's sister realms and he'd have some sum of money to live off.

"That's smart. What did you say you did before coming here?" Erik asked. He was still a bit wary of Loki and never missed an opportunity to ask a question. Loki didn't mind. It was good that Erik had the sense to not accept everything Loki said.

"I helped my father in his business. He owned a furniture shop in Tønsberg. That's where Don learned all the woodwork he knows." Loki replied easily. He had researched and made up a background from himself and Thor. He was well prepared.

Erik nodded. "Right. Why'd you move all the way here? You said you wanted a fresh start. But why?"

Loki did not have to fake the conflicted expression on his face. "I had a disagreement with my parents. They lied to me when they should not have. I could have moved to another city in Norway but my father is the kind of man who would have chased me and dragged me back home. I did not want that. I left leaving everything behind. They do not know I am here."

Jane and Darcy looked at him sympathetically. Erik looked like he wanted to ask more questions but Jane cut him off. "Still Luke. I can't take your money..."

Loki relented. "Fine. But then what are you going to do...?"

Jane thought about it. "I don't know...I'll figure something out..."

Darcy sighed loudly. "You don't have to figure it out. The opportunity is right there. I'm telling you we should try the Expo."

Erik nodded. "Darcy is right. It is a good opportunity and we will even have good company."

Loki nodded his head vigorously, looking at Jane with big pleading eyes. Jane groaned. "Oh God, please stop looking at me like that. I feel like I left you on the side of the road in the rain. Fine. I guess we're all going to the Expo. Hurray." Jane said blandly

Darcy whopped and hugged Jane. "I'll make the bestest pitch ever. We'll have investors flooding our gates. You'll see. Ok. We have tons of prep to do. We have to book tickets and a hotel and get clothes..."

"Woah. Woah. Woah. Clothes? Nobody said anything about clothes. What's wrong with my clothes?" Jane asked.

Loki looked at her skeptically. "Don't take this the wrong way dear but this shirt is ugly and that jacket is uglier. You can do so much better."

"It's ugly because Jane shops for clothes like people buy candies. She just shoves things into her cart without looking. It's frustrating. But don't worry boss lady. We'll fix you up. Even Luke here will think you're hot and he lives with Don. That'll be an achievement" Darcy reassured Jane.

Loki tilted his head. "I don't understand..."

Jane glared at Darcy. "Ignore her. She likes to put her foot where her mouth is. She didn't mean anything by it. And I agreed to go to the Expo. Not a fashion show. I'm not doing any shopping. We have to conserve our resources and...Luke take your credit card back...don't give it to Darcy!"

Loki sheepishly took his card back from Darcy who pouted. "No fun. Fine. I guess we'll make it work somehow. Moving on. Luke did you ask Don which flight you want to take?"

Loki nodded. "The four o' clock one. He said he should not have any new projects after he's done building a kitchen for the Jones couple. We plan on staying in New York a week."

Darcy nodded. "Cool. We also need to book rooms for staying. I'll share with Janey and you're with Don obviously. Erik can have a single room. Let me see what options we have."

This time Loki did hand Darcy her card and spoke before Jane could protest. "No. I am not compromising on the rooms. I want the best and I want you around me so I am paying. There will be no more discussion on it." He said with same tone he used to make negotiations.

Jane relented. "Fine. But in that case plane tickets are on me. No arguments."

Loki was frequently impressed when Jane managed to stand her ground despite his best efforts. He really liked her tenacity. Ikol mewled. Loki took him from Darcy's hands. "Yes. Yes. You are coming too. We'll buy you a nice little carrier with a comfy bed. You won't even feel the plane."

Loki's phone rang then. He rolled his eyes and picked it up. "Yes Don I am still at Jane's lab. I haven't divorced you yet."

_"Just checking. Did you book the tickets yet? I want to know because I have to tell Dave exactly when I am leaving."_

"Darcy was just about to do that. There is good news. Jane, Erik and Darcy are coming with us. Isn't that lovely?" Loki asked.

There was a pause before the response came. _"Yeah...sure...it will be fun."_

Thor could not have sounded less enthused if he'd tried. Loki frowned. What problem did Thor have with Jane? He was always either weird or hesitant around her. "Are you going to make it for lunch after all?"

" _No. I have to finish up work if we want to go camping tonight. If you still want to that is.."_

"Of course I want to. I will purchase everything we need. I'll see you tonight. Don't you dare eat any junk food. I made enough sandwiches for ten people. Finish them." Loki warned.

Thor chuckled. _"Yes mother. Whatever you say mother. I will see you at eight."_ The call disconnected

"Oaf." Loki groused. Ikol mewled in agreement. When he looked up Jane and Darcy and even Erik were looking at him fondly. "What?"

Jane shook her head, "Nothing. It's nothing. Come on. We'd best start packing up all this equipment. We have to either ship it ahead of us or take permission. Better get a head start."

Loki nodded. He helped Jane pack her equipment away. Helped Darcy pick rooms. It did not even occur to Loki that he could have booked separate or adjoining rooms for himself and Thor. Then he lingered at the lab helping Jane go over her research and refine it for a presentation. By the time evening rolled around Loki almost forgot to buy things for camping. Almost.

He remembered at the last minute. Thankfully Henry liked him and helped Loki get everything he needed and even had the things dropped at the apartment with one of the stock guys. Loki had just taken a dish called lasgna out of the oven when Thor came back home. Ikol wandered over to him mewling once before weaving between his legs.

Thor picked him up. "Hello Ikol. Did you miss papa? One day papa will take you to work with him." Thor scratched behind Ikol's ears and the kitten purred happily.

Loki snorted. "Absolutely not. He'll return covered in paint or dust or something. You can show him pictures of your work."

Thor pouted. "Not fair."

Loki narrowed his eyes at Thor making him shut up. He served their food, taking Ikol from Thor's hands so he could wash up for dinner. Once they were seated, he pointed at all the things he had bought. "Henry at the supermarket helped me get camping gear. I'll store it in my pocket dimension. I picked a spot in the desert that should be isolated. Let's rest up a bit before we leave."

Thor nodded. "Sure. Ikol is coming with us right? We can't leave him here all alone."

"Of course. I got him his own little tent." Loki pointed out.

They ate dinner. Loki set an alarm on his phone for midnight. Thor did the dishes and then they moved to the sofa. Thor put on the news so they could catch up. He set his head in Loki's lap and looked at him expectantly. Loki narrowed his eyes again. Thor gave him his best pleading look. Loki sighed heavily but did weave his fingers in Thor's hair, idly massaging his scalp. Ikol was already asleep in his bed. Loki dozed barely paying attention to the television until the alarm went off.

"Thor. Thor. Come on. Time for exercise." Loki shook Thor awake.

Thor yawned but got up, holding a hand out for Mjolnir. It came to him, startling Ikol. Loki quickly soothed him. He waved one hand and sent all the camping gear into a pocket dimension and changed to his training leathers in a flash. He was about to teleport them when Thor caught his hand.

"No. Wait. Can we...can we fly instead?" Thor asked.

Loki frowned. "We? How am I supposed to fly with you. I'm not shifting to a bird. I'm not in the mood."

Thor shook his head. "No. I'll just carry you. You don't have to change forms at all."

"Carry me." Loki repeated dumbly.

Thor stepped into Loki's personal space. He directed Loki to place his arms around his neck and wrapped an arm around Loki's waist. Then Thor pulled him close so that their chests were touching. Loki swallowed. Thor was too close again. Loki's thoughts were getting muddled and confusing. The strange fluttery sensation in his stomach was back. Had Thor's eyes always been this blue?

"See. Just like this. I can carry you easily." Thor said.

Thor's face was so close Loki completely and unfairly panicked. In a blind effort to escape he teleported himself not caring where he ended up. Thor was left gaping at the empty while Ikol mewled confused

TBC...


	7. Chapter 7

Jane blearily blinked at her phone. It was one in the night and apparently Don thought it was a great time to call her. She declined the call and went back to sleep. A few minutes later it started ringing again. Jane groaned, getting up. She picked up the phone. "Don do you know what time it is?"

_"I know. I'm sorry. I just needed to ask...did Luke show up at your lab? or at your trailer?"_ Don sounded worried.

Jane was instantly more alert. "No. Why? What happened? What did you do?" She demanded.

_"I don't know to be honest. We were supposed to go camping tonight but Luke just...disappeared. He left his phone. I tried searching in the neighborhood but I can't find him. I thought maybe he contacted you. Nevermind. I'll look somewhere else..."_

"Hang on one damn minute. You were going to take Luke camping tonight? Where? We're surrounded by a desert on all sides. You must have done _something_. Luke is a reasonable guy. He wouldn't just up and disapp-" Jane cut off as she heard someone knock on the door of her trailer. "Hold on. Someone's at the door. Don't go looking for Luke on your own. Come to my trailer. We'll figure it out together." Jane hung up not waiting for a response.

She opened her door to find Luke in strange clothes looking sheepish. "Sorry. I just...I needed to get away and I don't really have anywhere else to go...can I come in?"

Jane nodded. "Sure. Let me just..." She tried to fix her trailer up a little, a bit embarrassed about the mess. In a hurry she put the half eaten bowl of cereal in the cupboard before realizing her error. Jane blushed, taking it out and putting it in the sink. "Sorry about the mess. Um...Don called just so you know. He said you just up and disappeared. He sounded worried. What happened?"

Luke shrugged. "I panicked. I don't even understand why. It was silly. He sleeps beside me every night and he's always been tactile. I don't know what changed..."

Jane sat down on her bed confused. "Wait. Back up a bit. Are you talking about Don? Aren't you like....aren't you guys together? I thought you were..."

Luke blinked at her, looking surprised. "You thought...No. No. Absolutely not. Why would say that?!"

Now it was Jane's turn to be surprised. "Really? But you...you guys are so close....I thought...heck we...all of us thought. You know what it doesn't matter what we thought. Let's just...what do you mean you don't understand what changed?"

Luke rubbed a thumb over his palm. A nervous habit. "Well it was all fine. Like I said Don's always been tactile. But I don't know...the last few days every time he's too close...I get this strange fluttery feeling in my stomach and my thoughts are all muddled. I don't get it.."

Jane wanted to pinch Luke's cheeks and coo at him. He had a crush on Don and he hadn't joined the dots yet. How adorable! Luke looked at her like a lost little kitten. Despite herself Jane pat his cheek affectionately. "Well the fluttery feeling in your stomach is something we call having butterflies. Happens when you're nervous. I used to get them before every exam. It's nothing to be worried about."

"Oh." Luke said. Then he looked at Jane with round eyes again. "But this does not solve anything. Why do I get them only around Don? He's an oaf. He's annoying and irritating. Nothing he'd do would make me nervous. I am more likely to be embarrassed by him."

As if to prove Luke's point Don came barging into Jane's trailer, looking around. "Jane we must hurry! Luke has been missing for a whole ho-Oh. Luke there you are. I got so worried. You left your phone and you just disappeared."

Luke looked guilty. "Sorry. I...I wanted to talk to Jane about...some equipment she left in the desert. I was not sure where she had left it."

Don did not look convinced at all. Jane could see the gears in his head turning. But they came to the completely wrong conclusion if the way he tried to hunch was anything to go by. "Oh. Well..alright...I think it's too late to go camping now anyways. Let's...let's do it some other time..."

Luke bit his lip. "Yeah..I think that would be for the best.."

They all lingered in awkward silence for a full minute before Don shuffled. "Do you want to go home now or..?"

Luke nodded way too much. "Yes. Yes. Let's go home...now...sorry to bother you so late in the night Jane."

Jane shrugged. "It's cool. What else are friends for?"

Don mumbled thanks as well and then both of them were gone. Jane sighed. This was terrible. No this was catastrophic. This called for an emergency meeting with Darcy. She honestly thought Luke and Don were together. It was obvious that Don was already in love with Luke and he was holding back only because of fear of rejection. Luke clearly felt something for Don too. They were just too stupid to recognize it.

Jane picked up her phone. "Darcy...Yes. I know what time it is. Trust me this is important..."

*********

Thor opened the door and let Loki in. Loki was silent. Too silent. It had taken Thor some time but he realized he was being overtly familiar with Loki for the past few days. He'd slipped. They had settled into a routine and he'd slipped and forgotten his limits.

"Loki..." Thor began but Loki cut him off.

"I am tired. I'm going to sleep. We have to pack. Our flight is the day after tomorrow and we have more company now. I don't think we have time to spar." Loki headed for the bedroom not waiting for Thor to respond.

Thor sighed. Why was this so hard? Ikol mewled softly from the corner. Thor picked him up. "No baby. It was papa's fault. He needs to be better but he's never been good at that."

Thor decided the best thing to do was to give Loki some space. The sofa was a tight fit but he made do. Sometime in the early morning Loki shook him awake.

"Thor. Come sleep on the bed. Your back is going to hurt like this. Come on." Loki insisted.

Thor was in the clutches of sleep so he complied. Once they were in bed he wrapped an arm around Loki. "Sorry..."

Loki frowned at him. "For what?"

"Made you uncomfortable...sorry..." Thor replied.

Loki's gaze softened. He ran a hand through Thor's hair. Thor sighed. It felt nice. "Don't be. You didn't do anything. I am not angry"

"Promise?" Thor asked half asleep.

"Promise." Loki reassured.

Thor nodded sleepily. "Ok. Tell me if you are. Don't want you to leave me again. Don't want you to fall like last time. Hurt so much..."

Loki looked confused but Thor's eyes had already closed so he missed it. When he woke up later in the morning, Loki was already in the bathroom. Thor only vaguely recalled coming to bed and Loki telling him it was alright. He sighed. He would do better from now on. Keep more check on his actions. Ikol who had been sleeping on Loki's pillow mewled.

Thor scratched behind his ears. "No cartoons today huh? I suppose we disturbed your sleep last night. Sorry about that baby. How about some treats to make up for it?"

Ikol mewled happily. Thor picked him up and got up, taking him to the kitchen. He took out some tuna flavored treats for Ikol and set him down. Loki came out of the bathroom already dressed.

"Good Morning." He said.

Thor smiled. "Good morning. Ikol was too tired for cartoons. I thought he deserved a reward for putting up with us last night."

Loki nodded. "Of course. I already made breakfast. How much of your work is still left? I need you to pick out clothes to take for the trip. Now that we have company, we need to pack like normal humans. How do you want me to disguise Mjolnir?"

"As an umbrella? I can't think of anything else that would be inconspicuous. I don't have much to do today. I already made all the frames and doors and cupboards. All that's left to do is fitting them in the right place. I should be free by five."

Loki nodded. "Alright. Darcy said we should print out the tickets. I need to take Ikol to the vet for an updated health certificate. So my morning is full. I think we have everything purchased already. I'll pack my things and leave some room for yours."

"Sounds good to me." Thor replied. He brushed his teeth and took a quick shower, then ate hurriedly and ruffled Loki's hair on the way out.

Thor still had some time before he needed to show up for work so he headed to the jewelry store. He knew just how to make up for his behavior. The woman at the store, Silvia smiled. "Hi. How can I help you?"

"Hello. I need to make a custom piece of jewelry. If I order today and pay for it how fast can you get it done? It's a bit urgent." Thor asked.

Silvia nodded. "Well it depends on the jewelry. The more intricate designs take time. What do you have in mind?"

"A tag. For my pet. I need it engraved with a name on one side and a design on the other. Do you have paper? I can draw it for you." Thor suggested.

"One moment." Silvia replied. She got a drawing pad and a pencil from somewhere and handed it to Thor.

Thor drew out Loki's sigil. Two snakes intertwined, forming an S, biting each other's tails. He handed it to Silvia. "The other side needs to have the name Ikol engraved on it. Can you do it by evening? I am leaving for a trip tomorrow. Please?"

Silvia nodded, "Yes. I think we can do this by the end of the day. For the metal I recommend silver mixed with aluminum. We should have it ready by eight in the night. Is that ok?"

Thor smiled. "Absolutely. Here put it under the name Don Borson."

Thor handed his credit card to Silvia. She printed out a receipt for Thor and promised to have the tag ready for him by eight again. He headed to work then. Fitting in the doors and frames was a mindless job and instead Thor found himself wondering how he could get in touch with Tony once he was in New York. Then he wondered if Tony actually even lived in New York. He remembered Tony's tower had not been complete until after the invasion. He wished he could ask someone for advise. He felt so lost all the time.

Around lunch Thor saw Dave reading a book. Some detective story. That made him recall the book Loki had found in the library. Pure stroke of luck that one had been. The book detailed much about the Jotun. Odd that it was here in this corner of the world. The author seemed to be a resident of some remote palce in Norway.

"Hey Dave?" Thor asked, getting Dave's attention. "How does the library get the books they have? I mean does it come from bigger cities? Or do they have ties to some foundation dedicated to education?"

Dave snorted. "Nah. It's just books collected by Mrs. Goodman or donated by the locals and the school. We're a small community we don't need such an elaborate connection."

Thor blinked "Really? The other day Luke found this interesting historical book and the author was from Norway. Anyone here who could have donated it?"

Dave shrugged. "Erik Selvig's the only guy around here aside from you and Luke who's from Norway I think. Don't see any of the locals buying that kind of thing. Maybe Mrs. Goodman found it on one of her trips to Albuquerque."

Thor nodded. "Can you handle the rest of the fixtures? I got to help Luke prepare for our trip tomorrow. Need to take Ikol to the vet and everything."

Dave nodded. "Sure thing Don. I got Alex. You go on ahead. Wouldn't want to upset Luke. That's just like cutting your own foot off. I can't tell you how much Anna complains I don't help around the house. I totally understand."

Thor frowned not sure why Dave was talking about his wife when Thor was speaking of his brother but he shrugged and let it go. He headed for the library. Something in the back of his mind said that book's appearance was no accident. Mrs. Goodman was sitting at her desk.

Thor smiled at her. "Hello Mrs Goodman, Uh...if I wanted to track who donated a book at the library would you be able to help me out?"

Mrs. Goodman looked at him from the top of her glasses. "Yes. Of course. The library database is open to the community. Which book do you want to know about?"

"The Jotun Book: A History of the Giants. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the author. But Dr. Foster borrowed it recently. Luke was interested in it." Thor replied.

Mrs. Goodman nodded, typing in her computer and searching the library records. "Well it's actually really amazing. The book was borrowed the same day it came to the library all the way from New York. The name is Wong. I seem to have misplaced the contact number but there is an address if you want?"

Thor nodded. "Yes please. Luke wanted to see if they had more such books on the Jotun. He's very interested in the topic."

Mrs. Goodman smiled. "I bet his. He helped me re-organize the library. He's such a sweet boy. Well the address is 177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, New York."

Thor blinked. That sounded familiar. Then the light bulb went off in his head. The beer wizard. This is where the beer wizard had lived in the timeline he came from. Could it be? Thor shook his head. "Thank you Mrs. Goodman."

"You're welcome Don. Say hello to Luke for me." Mrs. Goodman replied.

Thor nodded. He came out of the library and went back to their apartment, sitting on the steps to the entrance. Huh. The wizard's name had been Stephen but perhaps he'd changed it or used a fake name. He'd sent that book here on purpose. But why? How did the wizard even know Thor and Loki were on Midgard let alone in this town? Loki had not done anything to the humans yet. There was no reason for him to be on any kind of list.

Could it be? Thor knew so little about the wizard's abilities. He knew he was powerful enough to find Odin and capture a mage of Loki's caliber briefly. Did the wizard somehow know that Thor had changed the timeline? If he did was he for or against Thor? So many questions but no answers. At least they were going to New York. Thor would have to find a way to sneak away from their little group and speak to the wizard. He sincerely hoped the wizard did not try to do something like sending Thor back to his timeline. He was not leaving. Not now. Not ever. Mind made up, Thor got up from the steps, whatever it was he would figure it out. For now he decided to run some errands before nightfall.

*********

Nicholas Fury had a headache. The headache stemmed from the fact that he was surrounded by idiots. Except Coulson. Coulson was the best but the others...Sometimes he felt like gouging his remaining good eye out.

"Tell me just what in the hell you were trying to do and try to make some sense this time." Fury ordered the nervous scientist.

The poor guy had sweat on his forehead. If Fury didn't have a headache he might have felt sorry. Might have. "Uh...Sir...we were just doing some basic tests. I swear! It was routine. Then the cube suddenly lit up and...according to the equations..."

"Screw the god damn equations and tell me why one of my agents is halfway from being a shish kebab!" Fury yelled frustrated.

Coulson bless his soul came in then with the report. "According to the footage the cube activated suddenly without provocation. None of the people saw it coming. Not even Clint. This is very strange sir. It seems almost as if it's alive..."

Before Fury could give any more orders, Sitwell appeared. "This is nothing to worry about. I think we are finally making the kind of progress we need to launch Phase 2." Sitwell said, smugly.

Fury glared at him. "My agents nearly died. I work hard to put them here. I expect some kind of precaution Jasper. Do your men even know what they are doing?"

Sitwell nodded. "That's fair. I understand why you are upset Fury but this is a lab. Accidents are bound to happen. Don't worry we are getting better people to work on this. Here." Sitwell handed Fury a file. "Send Clint and get Dr. Selvig onto Project Pegasus. His work is exemplary and I believe we will do better under his lead. He's headed to New York. I recall you have other persons of interest there?"

Fury didn't react to the jibe. "Stark is a candidate for the Avengers Initiative. He's my prerogative. I have it under control. You worry about Pegasus."

Sitwell's jaw clenched but then he knew better than to argue with Fury so he simply left. Got under his skin that one. But Pierce trusted him so Fury did too. He handed the file to Coulson. "Well you heard him. Get Dr. Selvig. Oh and tell me if you think anyone around him is worth our time."

"Will do." Coulson replied, taking the file. Fury stared at the Tesseract. His one good eye was twitching since morning. He had a bad feeling about this one.

*******

On Asgard, Frigga was pleasantly surprised when Heimdall requested a private audience with her and Odin. He had not done that in a long time. As Heimdall entered the inner throne room Frigga smiled. "Heimdall. It is good to see you. You requested a private audience? Is everything alright?"

Frigga hoped this was not about Thor or Loki. Heimdall nodded. "Do not worry My Queen. It is nothing too unsettling. Just an interesting observation I felt the Crown needed to know of."

"Well out with it then. We haven't got all day." Odin prompted.

"In my search for the Princes, I set my eyes towards Midgard. It seems much has changed on the mortal realm. A hero of the name Iron Man has risen among them. But that is not all. Today my eyes were drawn to a hidden fortress. Your Grace, the humans have found the Tesseract. It is in their possession and they appear to be experimenting with it. I thought to draw your attention to it." Heimdall reported.

Odin leaned forward. "What? How? I thought the Tesseract was being guarded by Church Keepers. This is concerning. The humans do not have the ability to wield a power like the Tesseract. It is good that you reported this Heimdall. We must intervene before the mortals bring down calamity upon themselves. Send for the Warriors Three and Lady Sif. We will have them retrieve the Tesseract post haste"

"No. I shall go retrieve it on my own." Frigga interjected.

Odin looked at her with a sharp eye. "Why? The warriors can do this. There is no need for you to trouble yourself."

Frigga shook her head. "For the mortals we are as good as myth, legend. How do you think they will react when they realize we are very real and very alive? They might not relinquish the Tesseract so easily and if we send only warriors they might interpret it as a threat or an act of war. This requires diplomacy not the sword. Let me go with the Warriors Three and Sif. I shall bring the Tesseract back with me. Nothing will happen to me. Heimdall will keep watch won't he?"

Heimdall nodded. "Certainly My Queen. I shall watch the humans and retrieve you should there be the slightest hint of threat to your life."

Odin thought for a moment but then he relented. "Very well. Send for the Warriors Three and Lady Sif. They shall accompany Queen Frigga under your watch, Heimdall."

Heimdall bowed and left to do as Odin asked. Frigga turned to leave as well but Odin caught her hand. "Frigga...wait...When...when you see Loki....please tell him I am sorry. For everything. For treating him the way I have. Tell him...he may stay where ever he desires just...just ask him to see me once. Only once. Please."

Frigga stiffened. "I never mentioned Loki..."

Odin smiled a brittle smile. "You did not have to. You would not insist on going to Midgard if you did not have anything to gain from it. I know better than to think you do not know where they are. You would not have rested otherwise."

Frigga sighed. She looked at Odin with a searching gaze. "Was he truly abandoned? I keep going over everything that happened and how you found him and the question eats away at me. Tell me Odin. Tell me...was he truly abandoned?"

Odin did not have the courage to meet Frigga's gaze. Frigga snatched her hand back, heartbroken. "Loki was right. When he was leaving I caught him. I pleaded with him to stay. He said we had no right to ask anything of him. He was right. How could you Odin? He was a child. An innocent child. You claim to love him, to love me and yet...Forget Loki even I would not forgive you this! I am going to get _my_ sons and then we will stay where they wish and _you_ , you will let us."

Frigga left, not waiting for Odin to respond. She was going to her sons. She was done putting up with Odin's lies and defending him. Thor was right not doing anything was as good as doing the wrong thing and Frigga was tired of being a bystander. Enough was enough

*******

Loki was supposed to be packing his bags. He was supposed to have been done with it by now but he'd gotten nowhere. He had everything ready but his mind kept wandering. Thor acted so strangely at times that Loki wondered if he'd been swapped for someone else. He said things that made no sense. Did things Loki never expected him to do. He couldn't catch it. He couldn't see the point where it all changed. It was as if Thor woke up one morning and was a completely different person. Something was wrong. But for the life of him Loki could not figure out what.

Ikol mewled. Loki picked him up, stroking his fur. Then there was his own confusing emotions. Since when did Thor's proximity make Loki nervous? Since when did Loki wish to wake up beside him every day? What was wrong with him? It made no sense. Nothing made any sense. Loki sighed, frustrated. Maybe the life changing revelations had finally driven him mad. There was no other explanation.

Loki was brought out of his musings by the sound of the door opening. He looked at the clock. Thor had said he would be home by five but it was just a little past eight. Where had he been all this time? Norns now Loki sounded like a miffed wife. Thor came into the bedroom looking sheepish.

Loki turned his face away. Thor looked at him with what Darcy called puppy dog eyes. "I know. I know I am late but I have a good reason for it."

Thor took out a small rectangular box from his pocket and for one insane moment Loki thought he was going to propose like the humans did. But then Thor opened the box and Loki saw it was a small tag with his sigil. Thor looked at him hopefully. Despite himself Loki pulled the tag out which was apparently attached to a chain. He turned the tag. Ikol, it read.

Loki looked at Thor in surprise. Thor shrugged. "He is mama's boy more than papa's. I thought it was about time we made it known. Besides New York is a big city Ikol needs something to symbolize he has a family. I thought your sigil suited him. He is a little mischief maker just like his mama."

Loki was not going to hug his oaf of a brother. Loki was not going to hug his oaf of a brother. Loki set Ikol down and threw his arms around Thor's neck, completely contradicting himself. Thor not having expected it fell and they ended on the floor, Loki on top of Thor. They were too close again. The fluttery feeling was back. Thor tucked a strand of Loki's hair behind his ear and stroked his cheek.

"You like it then?" He asked in a whisper.

Loki could only nod, mesmerized by the way the light danced in Thor's eyes. The fluttery feeling intensified and turned into warmth in the pit of Loki's stomach. He blushed scrambling off of Thor. Clearly he had gone mad. He needed some space to clear his thoughts.

"I did not get a chance to start packing...or cook dinner. Can you pack? I'll fix dinner for us." Loki mumbled.

Thor nodded. "Sure. Want to tie this around Ikol first?" He asked pointing to the tag in Loki's hand.

Loki nodded. He tied the tag around Ikol's neck, brushing his fingers over his sigil. It was perfect. Thor was perfect and Loki was on a dangerous road. He hurried to the kitchen trying to get the confusing thoughts out of his mind for a little while at least. Once they were in New York, Loki would work to put some distance between himself and Thor. Yes. That was a good idea. That was all Loki needed. Some distance and time. It would be fine.

********

Tony Stark stared at the numbers that felt like a nail in his coffin. He wanted to laugh. So he did. It sounded hysterical to his own ears but he supposed this once he could be excused a little madness. Poor Yinsen sacrificed himself for nothing. A year later and Tony was back essentially back in the cave, dying as he had been then. Only this time it was slower and more painful. He laughed again. Man so this is what karma feels like.

"Sir? Shall I postpone the opening of the Stark Expo? In your condition I recommend.." Jarvis began.

"No." Tony cut him off. "No. We are not postponing anything. Got what four weeks? Better make the best of it. Show me the final design for War Machine and open up my will. Want to make some tweaks."

There was a pause and Tony could feel Jarvis' concern. "Sir..please...let me call Dr. Markus...or Dr.."

"I said no J. It's my life. It's my choice. Run simulations if that reassures you but this little soundbite is staying indoors. I am not going to make the last few weeks of my life a media circus. War Machine design. Now."

Tony could feel the disappointment Jarvis was giving off but he ignored it instead concentrating on the War Machine armor. If he was going to go it was going to be with a bang and nothing less. Stark men were made of iron. They did not let others handle their problems. Tony was perfectly capable of handling things himself. He had it under control.

******

In Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One was shaken from her trance abruptly. The time stone stopped glowing. She let out a frustrated breath. The time stone had been a friend to her many centuries yet suddenly it seemed to have a mind of it's own. Every time she tried to look at her current timeline it was blank. There was nothing but darkness. A clean slate. Like someone had wiped the future events and new ones had not been written yet. Even the point, the dreaded point in time past which she was never able to see was gone.

For the first time in centuries, the Ancient One wished she had her mentor Agamotto with her. She had sent Prince Loki a book like the time stone showed her but after that it had become silent. Whenever she tried to peer into the future it showed a blank slate. She just felt out of her depth and it worried her.

"Ancient One?" She looked up to see, Wong had come in.

She nodded. "Yes Wong. Tell me. What is it?"

"I received a strange call from that library you asked me donate the book to. Mrs. Goodman the librarian had misplaced my number, then she found it and wanted to make sure it was me. Someone called Don asked about the book we sent. She gave them the address of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum. Ancient One...I do not understand what we are doing?" Wong asked confused.

The Ancient One sighed. "To be honest Wong, even I do not understand what we are doing. The stone wanted me to share that book with Prince Loki, why it is interested in the him escapes me. I have no answers for you. Sorry."

Wong looked conflicted. "Do you think we are in danger? Is there a threat to the multiverse that has rendered the stone incapable?"

The Ancient One shook her head. "No. The stones pre-date the universe. Nothing is capable of rendering them useless. Not even the cosmic entities that made them. This is something else. Go to New York. Wait for this Don. I shall keep trying to get answers. Who knows we might figure this out yet."

Wong nodded and left. As the portal to New York closed, the Ancient One, tried to get answers from the time stone again. She sincerely hoped Wong's fears did not prove true. She was sworn to protect the multiverse. Failure had never been an option before and it was not one now.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only reason Thor and Loki haven't caught on that everyone thinks they are a couple is because they're too busy being idiots. Frigga should have honestly divorced Odin like ages ago. Fury is going to have a migraine by the end of this fic. Poor guy has no idea just how badly things are about to blow up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Here's the next one.  
> Sorry for the delay

Loki banged his head against the shower wall. Idiot. He was an idiot. He'd let Darcy book their rooms and for some reason she had booked what was called the 'Honeymoon Suite' There had been roses on the fucking bed arranged in a bloody heart shape. Heart shape! Loki had never blushed so hard in his life. To make things worse, Thor thought it was hilarious. There was alcohol which was like water to Loki and Thor but still...then there were chocolates and strawberries which had delighted Thor.

Oaf was _always_ hungry. At least Ikol enjoyed playing with the roses. Loki had taken the first chance he could get and locked himself in the bathroom. He didn't understand why he couldn't stop blushing. It was ridiculous. Jane's confusion made sense now. She and everybody apparently thought he and Thor were a couple. How they all came to that conclusion escaped Loki. He and Thor were two men living together and somehow the first assumption was that they were together. Weren't humans primitive about these things? At least they had been when Loki last visited Midgard during his teen years..

He shrugged. Whatever. He and Thor had shared living space for a while now, it would be fine. If Loki acted natural, maybe Jane and Darcy would back off. He shut the shower off and dried and dressed himself. The flight had been exhausting. Too many humans milling about like ants. Running helter skelter. And protocols. So many protocols. Irritating. Next time Loki was teleporting.

When he came out Thor was attempting to feed a strawberry to Ikol. The little kitten licked the berry then hissed at Thor accusingly. "Oh come on. It's not so bad. You cannot live of off tuna flavored treats and milk alone." Thor insisted

Loki picked Ikol up. "Stop it. Ikol does not need fruit. He will eat fish or something else that is not a fruit. He is a cat not a monkey."

Thor rolled his eyes. "Yes dear. Whatever you say dear." He said in a overtly sweet tone, blowing a kiss Loki's way.

Loki was going to stab the oaf and bury him in the garden. No one was going to miss him. No one. Thor held his hands up in surrender. "Please don't look at me like that. I feel like you're going to stab me. Don't stab me. I only jest. _You_ were the one in-charge of the bookings."

Loki let out a frustrated breath. "Well yes. But I am new to this so I entrusted it to Darcy. Who has a truly twisted sense of humor apparently."

Thor shuffled on his feet. "We could have it changed...if you want..."

Great now he was looking like Loki killed his dog again. It was not fair. Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. "No..it's fine. It's the flight. I did not enjoy the experience at all. Too many humans. It exhausted me."

Thor immediately perked up, pulling Loki to the set of chairs by the huge window in their room. "You sit here brother. I shall fetch you some proper food. You will feel better after a hearty meal."

He skipped away before Loki could protest that he was not hungry. Oaf. Ikol mewled at his retreating figure. Loki scratched behind his ears. "I know. I know. Papa means well. You don't have to defend him. I suppose there is no harm in a little food."

Loki settled in the chair and decided to avail the amenities in the room which included the huge television on the wall. The news was filled with stories about the Stark Expo. It was the talk of the town. The hotel had been full as well. Loki could tell from the sheer amount of people in the lobby when they were 'checking in' He was excited. He had seen multiple videos of the Iron Man armor and he really really wanted to see it from much closer.

Loki had done a bit of research there were passes to the main area where the opening ceremony was to be held. All the best seats were reserved for special guests. He had full intention of going to the Expo early and sneaking a seat for himself and Thor and mingling in that crowd. He did not just want to see Dr. Stark from a distance, he wanted to make an acquaintance. Of course he'd kept these details to himself. Sometimes it was best to surprise Thor. With that thought, Loki cast a silencing spell around their room and decided to plan for tomorrow.

*********

Fury was having a good day. He made a good cup of coffee. Nobody blew his agents up. Coulson was handling things and Clint had been sent to fetch Dr. Selvig. The Tesseract was humming but it had not lashed out in any way. It was a nice good day so of course it made sense that it would be completely ruined by a blinding column of light suddenly crashing on top of their base.

Coulson came running. "Sir. The roof top...our sensors..."

Fury sighed, setting his nice mug of coffee on the table, mourning it already. "Fine. I'm coming. I'm coming. Hold your horses...one damn day." He muttered but got up anyways.

He did a double take when he finally made it to the rooftop. A really nice looking lady along with some idiots was standing in the middle of a circle with strange marks. Before Fury could ask just what in the hell was going on. One of the idiots, a woman spoke up.

"Mortal. Hand over the Tesseract. Now!" The woman sneered.

Before Fury could react the nice lady put a hand on the woman's arm. "Sif. Is this any way to speak? Be silent."

Fury looked at the nice lady with one eyebrow raised. She smiled. "I apologize. Sif can be a bit enthusiastic. I shall introduce myself. I am Queen Frigga. I come from a realm like yours called Asgard. I would like to speak to person in charge of this facility."

"Asgard? You mean like that legendary place where all the Norse Gods lived?" Coulson asked curious.

Queen Frigga smiled at him. "Well yes precisely young man. Although it is hardly legend if it's real isn't it?"

Fury nodded. "Well I am Director Nick Fury, the person in charge. I should warn you, Your Highness, this is a private property and showing up unannounced is tantamount to trespassing which has consequences as per the laws of the US government. That is how we do things here. What is your business with us?"

If the Queen was surprised by Fury's non-pulsed reaction she did not show it. "I see. Well Director Fury let us come to the point then. You possess a dangerous artifact by the name of the Tesseract. You are experimenting with it and recently even had some...accidents. As King over the Nine Realms it is King Odin's duty to warn you that continuing on this path will lead only to destruction. By playing with the Tesseract you call attention not only to yourself but to us as well. Interest from potentially dangerous parties. In that view Asgard suggests not performing these experiments and handing over the Tesseract to us seeing as you do not understand it at all and are endangering all of us with this reckless behavior. We are open to negotiation. But this is not a request. The King will not be ignored."

The lady meant business. Fury like that. Fury could appreciate a no nonsense person like her. Though it worried him that Asgard which was obviously another planet had the ability to see into their most secure facility. But then again the Tesseract was like a beacon. He somewhat even agreed with the Queen but unfortunately Sitwell has won that argument. Besides he could not just hand something like the Tesseract over to a supposed mythical race of beings.

He motioned to the door. "Perhaps this discussion is best taken indoors, Your Highness. Shall we?"

Queen Frigga smiled. "Certainly."

Fury led her inside to his office. All the agents looked at the Queen and her companions curiously. Coulson fell in step beside her and excitedly started asking questions. Queen Frigga smiled at him indulgently and answered them. Maybe this day was not so bad after all.

******

Darcy looked to the left, then to the right. The hallway was clear. She got on her knees and put her ear to the door trying to listen in.

Jane frowned at her. "What are you doing?"

"Shh.." Darcy scolded. "Not so loud. I'm trying to listen in. I upgraded their room to the honeymoon suite. I wanna hear how they're taking it."

"Darcy! That's not what we planned. We were going to send them off on a date. Remember? I'm pretty sure honeymoon is a long way off" Jane insisted.

Darcy got up. "Well yes. But they spend so much time together and they _still_ haven't figured it out. I mean not even Luke who's like above average intelligent. So I think we need to be a little less subtle. Sending them to the museum together is not going to work. Luke will fawn over the paintings and Don will just smile at him dopily and it won't go anywhere."

"So? Your plan was what? That they'll see all the roses and the champagne and go: OMG! I think people think we are a couple. I wonder why. Maybe it's because we are totally in love with each other. That's not going to work! I told Luke he has butterflies in his stomach whenever he's around Don and his reaction was confusion. They're hopeless. We need to do something better." Jane retorted.

Darcy sighed. "Well what is better? I mean...they live together. They sleep on the same fucking bed for God's sake. Don came all the way here with Luke and got Luke a cat and a tag for the cat which was customized and Luke still thinks he's just being a good friend. Like seriously. If someone changed continents for me, I'd marry them on the spot. On the spot Jane!"

Jane was going to respond but they heard footsteps. "Shit. This is not supposed to be our floor. Hide. Hide. Come on."

Jane and Darcy hid behind a giant fern. It was Don. Oh. Darcy hoped they were not trying to change rooms. Don knocked on the door and Luke opened, not letting him in. "Where is the food? I thought you were getting food."

Don rolled his eyes. "I was. It takes time to make food. I ordered at one of the restaurants in the hotel and they said they will send it to our room. Apparently I could have just ordered from the room itself. Room service."

Luke nodded. "I have to give it to the humans they are creative. Come on then. I was watching the news. The Expo is all over it. I was thinking..."

Luke's voice trailed off as he closed the door. Darcy and Jane came out of their hiding spot and looked at each other confused.

Jane opened and closed her mouth a few times. "...that was..weird..."

Darcy nodded. "Don acted like room service is a thing he's never heard of before and ' _the humans are creative'_ who talks like that?"

Jane nodded. "That was so weird. You know at the airport, I had to drag Luke everywhere. He was so upset. I thought maybe it was the crowd thing because he said he did not like large crowds. But now that I think about it, it was almost as if he'd never seen an airport before...."

"Weird." Darcy commented.

Jane agreed. Her phone rang then and Darcy quickly pulled her to the elevator to avoid being spotted by Don or Luke. It was Erik. "Yeah Erik, we're coming. We were just exploring a bit."

Darcy crossed her arms and pouted. Jane hugged her sideways. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out. Eventually."

Darcy hoped so. If they couldn't she was just going to knock Don and Luke's heads together and be done with it. Honestly.

*******

After the food finally arrived and they had eaten, Thor sat beside Loki on the bed, an arm casually around his shoulder. Loki had put some animated movie about a woman who agreed to live with a beast in exchange for her father's life being spared. There were singing tea cups and clocks. Ikol tried to catch them as they moved on the screen. Loki rested his head on Thor's shoulder.

Thor fingered a strand of his hair. Loki hummed. "They're getting longer. I'll cut them."

"Don't. It looks good on you." Thor couldn't help but say.

Loki looked at him curiously but didn't say anything. Thor let his fingers massage Loki's scalp randomly. Soon Loki's eyes were drooping. In the movie, the beast turned into a handsome prince when the girl professed her love for him.

Loki chuckled. "How silly. That is not how curses work."

"No? How do they work?" Thor asked.

"Well a true curse is usually not broken but rather transferred. If at all it is to be broken, it cannot be done save for with the help of a powerful mage or witch, well versed in hexes. But even then it would leave a mark. This kiss thing is ridiculous." Loki stated.

"I suppose it is a bit pessimistic for children. I am positive that is who the movie was intended for. You have to admit it is a nice thought to think that love would conquer all" Thor argued.

Loki turned his head, looking at Thor. "Oh is it? Is a kiss supposed to take away my blue skin and red eyes? Are you offering?"

Thor touched his lips to Loki's forehead, surprising him. "No. I am not offering because there is nothing to be rid of. Your Jotun form is as beautiful as your Aesir form Loki."

Loki looked overwhelmed like he always did whenever his Jotun form was brought up. He sighed and rested his head back on Thor's shoulder. "Jane and Darcy and Erik won't think that. Want to bet that they will run away screaming if they ever saw my Jotun form?"

Thor frowned at the top of Loki's head. "Alright. But only so I can say I told you so when they accept you and do not run away screaming as you say. You forget Ikol loves your Jotun form."

Loki pouted. "Only because we were in the desert and my Jotun form was cold." Loki shifted to his Jotun form and to completely contradict his words, Ikol wandered over to him and purred rubbing his fury cheek against Loki's marked one.

Thor couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. Loki shuffled away from him, laying down, turning on his side, Ikol nestled to his chest. "Shut up." Loki mumbled.

Thor's smiled widened. He shut the television off and lay down beside Loki, smiling at the ceiling. Loki kicked his shin. "I said shut up."

Thor relented. Turning on his side and wrapping an arm around Loki's waist. And well if he had a smile on his as he fell asleep, no one had to know.

*****

"Running simulations again. The results have not changed Sir." Jarvis said, a note of concern in his voice.

Tony sighed, chugging a glass of chlorophyll. It was to reduce the symptoms of slowly being poisoned by the Arc Reactor. It tasted horrible and Tony could feel it in his stomach but he had little choice in the matter. He was already exhausted and as per the calculations the symptoms had just begun showing. Tony had yet to see the worst of it. He rested his head on the table. He did not want to see the worst of it. He thought he could take it but he could not.

He had tried every element on the periodic table in hopes of finding a replacement for the palladium but nothing was working out. There was no cure. The thought was like a stone in Tony's stomach. People thought him capable of inventing things from dirt but really this was it. This was Tony's limit. He'd found it at last. He was dying and all his genius, all his intelligence fell short of finding a solution. A way out. This was it.

"Sir...should I cancel the opening of Stark Expo?" Jarvis asked for the hundredth time.

Tony shook his head. He might be dying but he was still stubborn. "No. I told you J, the Expo is happening. No takebacks. All the arrangements are already made. You know what. I don't want to stay here in this lab. It's depressing. I'm gonna take a ride around town Armor. Stat."

Jarvis paused. "Sir. Continued use of the armor is not a recommended..."

"Mute" Tony ordered.

He decided to go with the Mark V since it could fold down into a suitcase. He let the armor encase him. He typed a command to open the hatch in the ceiling, ignoring Jarvis pleas that flashed on the screen. Tony took off into the night sky trying to escape his life and the choices that had brought him here.

******

Fury sat in front of Queen Frigga of Asgard, trying to assess her. It was no use. Her poker face was too damn good. "I cannot give the Tesseract over to you, Your Highness. I do not have the authority to make such a decision."

"Who does then?" Queen Frigga asked.

The World Council came online then, holograms filling the seats, that were arranged in a semi circle in one corner of Fury's office. They all looked at Queen Frigga curiously. "Director Fury. What is the meaning of this? You sent a message saying we have been contacted by an alien race? This joke is not funny." Councilman Rockwell said.

"Believe me councilman, I ain't kidding around. May I present Queen Frigga of Asgard." Fury replied motioning to the Queen.

Councilwoman Hawley leaned forward. "Asgard? That mythological realm of Norse Gods? Director Fury we do not expect such jests from you."

Queen Frigga waved one hand and suddenly the room was filled with several butterflies and floating lights. The council members looked shocked for a moment before they started speaking over each other.

"Even if we were to believe this woman is from an alien planet, why would we ever agree to part with the Tesseract?"

"You clearly have a security breach Director if some alien can just trapeze into our most secure facility."

"Why is this woman not being detained? Why are our protocols not being followed?"

"Perhaps it is time you handed over your duties to someone else."

Fury raised one eyebrow at that. "I'm sorry. Are you or are you not suggesting that I am bad at my job? Cause I got a list of incidents to contradict your statement, including that time I saved your daughter's life Councilman. See this right here is a fine example of why we need to stop the experiments and focus on building up a response team that is capable of handling such unforeseen situations. I wouldn't have to shake you up in the middle of the night or early in the morning if we had say an Iron Man or a Captain America. They could have handled this."

"And what qualification does Dr. Stark have to make the choice of whether or not we hand over our foremost source of energy to some Vikings..?" Councilman Han challenged.

"The qualification where he funds over half of shield and his father was the one we have to thank for having the Tesseract in the first place. But that's an argument for another day. I believe Queen Frigga has a proposal for us?" Fury prompted.

Queen Frigga stepped up. The butterflies and lights vanishing with a simple motion of her fingers. "Indeed I do. It was my husband after all who allowed you to keep the Tesseract after the war with Jotunheim ended. Though I believe no human alive remembers those events. We do not wish to harm you. Far from it. We would love to build a more organic relation with Midgard. One that would benefit both realms."

"Even so Your Grace, we do not feel comfortable handing over the Tesseract. We need it to build weapons. Weapons to defend against threats from civilizations that are far more advanced than us. You might be kind and good to us. But can you say the same for others out there? Can you guarantee no one holds ill will against our planet?" Councilman Singh asked.

"We would like to build a relationship with your planet but you cannot expect us to hand over our most important object in the very first meeting. Especially when you offer nothing in return. We are not your subjects." Secretary Pierce pointed out.

Queen Frigga nodded. "I agree that Midgard has never truly been subject to Asgard. Mostly because of the vast differences in our lifespans. But you are a part of the Nine Realms and Asgard's authority is sovereign beyond your borders. Its King is not used to refusal. We must tread carefully."

Councilman Han caught what Queen Frigga was trying to imply. He looked at Councilman Rockwell meaningfully, before focusing back on Queen Frigga. "So...if it so happened that the Tesseract belonged not to one person or country...if it needed debate and work to come to a decision are you saying we can take as much time as we need? Do I understand you correctly Your Grace?"

Queen Frigga shrugged. "King Odin is a noble king. He wants peace not war. If peace takes a little time that's understandable. After all my people live for thousands of years what's a few years...or decades...or centuries to them?"

Councilwoman Hawley chuckled. "What indeed. Well then Your Grace. The Tesseract is the property of Earth. We have independent countries, each with their own leader. Leaders who must be made aware of this choice. It will take us some time to come to a decision. We hope you understand. In the meantime Director Fury shall make arrangements for your stay here. All in favor of the decision?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes"

"Yes"

Councilwoman Hawley nodded. "Yes. The decision is made. Until this council can come to an agreement with regards to the artefact known as the Tesseract, Queen Frigga is an esteemed guest and shall be treated accordingly.. We only request that you abide by the laws of Earth, Your Grace."

"Certainly. It is the least you can ask of me, Councilwoman." Queen Frigga agreed, smiling.

Councilwoman Hawley smiled at Queen Frigga as her image disappeared. Fury turned to Queen Frigga. "If I didn't know any better Your Grace, I'd say you want to be here."

In response Queen Frigga only smiled. "I will let you draw your conclusions Director Fury but don't expect confirmation. There would be no fun in that."

Fury really liked this woman. He nodded. "I see. Well, let us get you settled in. Coulson will take you to one of our safe houses and bring you up to speed on how things work around here. Should you have any concerns please do not hesitate to reach out to me."

Queen Frigga nodded in return. Coulson came in taking her away. Fury sat down at his desk. A lone butterfly had been left behind by the Queen. When Fury reached out to touch it, it turned into a floating light. A card with flowing cursive appeared on Fury's desk on its own.

_To new friendships_ It read. Fury did not have a smile on his face as he got up to get more coffee. His face just happened to look happy.

******

Sif paced the small room that had been assigned to her and her friends. Queen Frigga had disappeared with a mortal by the name of Fury to negotiate the return of the Tesseract to Asgard. Why they were wasting time negotiating she failed to understand. King Odin hadn't requested the humans return the Tesseract. He had _commanded_ it. Why was the Queen indulging these mortals? They could have been on their way hours ago.

"Sif come on sit down. Have this drink. Son of Coul said it is called coffee. It's simply divine." Fandral said from his seat.

"Aye. I have never had anything like it. Ingenious!" Volstagg exclaimed finishing his tenth cup of the drink.

Hogun nodded from another corner where he was busy stuffing his face with something called a donut. Idiots the lot of them. Sif did not stop her pacing. They were wasting time. They needed to find Loki and here they were on an entirely different realm. Had the command not come from King Odin, Sif would have refused it. Mara had not gotten anywhere. All she said was that Loki was too powerful for her.

Sif scoffed. Loki and power did not belong in the same sentence. He was nothing but an _ergi_ with tricks. She didn't understand how he was evading them. The door of the room opened then and Queen Frigga stepped in all smiles with Son of Coul.

"The jet shall be ready for take off in fifteen minutes Your Grace. Please do eat something and let me know if you need anything." Son of Coul said.

Queen Frigga pat his shoulder. "Thank you dear. I shall wait for you to come fetch me. Where did you say we are going?"

"To the city of New York. It is easier to mingle in the crowd. The safe house is an apartment building really and usually we do not allow people to go out once they are there. But you are our guests not prisoners. I shall have someone there with you permanently. You can explore the city around you." Son of Coul explained.

"That would be splendid. It has been so long since I explored a new place. I look forward to it." Queen Frigga replied.

Son of Coul smiled at her before leaving. The Queen turned to Sif, clapping her hands. "Well, as Phil said we are to stay in the city of New York. Make sure to take your weapons. Phil said he would explain the local law to us so we can fit in much better. I shall write a letter to Odin once we are there."

The Queen turned away. Sif took a step towards her, putting her hand on her arm "But Your Grace...what of the Tesseract? I thought we were here to take it back to Asgard."

Queen Frigga stared at Sif's hand on her arm for a moment before wrapping her own around it. Her grip was tight enough that Sif grimaced. Queen Frigga smiled. "We are here to make peace _and_ take the Tesseract. One cannot be done without the other. The humans have laws. They have rulers and leaders and people who must decide to give the Tesseract up together. It will take some time and since we are here _in peace,_ we will wait. Am I clear?"

She let go of Sif's hand then. Sif tried not to wince. "Of course your grace." She mumbled in response.

Queen Frigga looked at her with sharp eyes. "Good. Now what do we have here? I am famished."

Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg practically fell on top of each other in their hurry to get the Queen some food and drink. Sif retreated to one corner, nursing her hand. The Queen was hiding something. She was sure of it. But she knew no one would listen to her. She decided to keep her eyes and ears open. It felt like everything in the world was upside down. How did things become so bad?

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frigga of course has no intention of leaving without making it up to Thor and Loki first.  
> Sif just continues to be an idiot.


End file.
